WhiteBear King Valemon
by Night's Fantacy
Summary: The first in Gwynach's Fables. A certain fey has decided to interfere with a prince's life. Good thing too. He'll need all the help he can get. Goes through the prince's birth, to why he got cursed, to his and his princess's happily ever after.
1. An Undervalued Godmother

The White-Bear King Valemon

(A young prince who had horrible taste in women and a young princess who should've known better)

An Undervalued Godmother

King Audun was starting to question his earlier choice. His kingdom was a small one, easily forgotten. That was why it surprised him when a fairy came forward and offered to be godmother to his as yet unborn son. True she didn't look like most fairies and he had had his doubts. But then again, fairies usually only did that sort of thing for more important kingdoms. She had come up to him as he was hunting, clothed in a peasant style dress with her skirt cut off at the knees and large boots. She introduced herself as Gwynach and respectfully asked to be named godmother for his soon to arrive child. Of course, when he stayed silent from surprise, her next words weren't respectful. "You know, your son. He'll be born twelve days from now, making everybody get up at midnight to have the birthing. Stormy blue eyes, black curls, jagged birthmark on the lower left part of his back. You did realize that your wife is pregnant and will give birth soon, didn't you?"

He had weighed his choices carefully. He didn't want to turn away a real fairy who wished to be his son's godmother, but he also didn't want to make a mad woman his son's godmother either. He had replied that he would send her his reply as soon as his son was born. She had taken the news very agreeably, whereas most fairies would have been insulted. When his son was born, it was exactly as the fairy had said, from the time of birth to the birthmark. Now, three months later, he was holding his son's christening. As was traditional, all the important people of the small kingdom had come and many distant relatives. Also as was traditional, the boy's fairy godmother attended, and would give him at least one gift.

The fairy stuck out like a sore thumb. All the women were dressed in fine gowns in bright colors, with thick petticoats that made their skirts flare out, long sleeves tied in silk ribbons, and fur trim. Even in a small kingdom like this the women wore fine jewels. The fairy, on the other hand, wore a simple gown. It had one strap on the left side in the form of a leather cord done in a complicated braid, leaving her arms and shoulders bare. The dress was a midnight blue with threadwork of the same color making a complicated design, with a slit going up the right side to reveal a grayish blue underskirt. Her only jewelry was a pendant made out of dark blue stone, silver hoops in her ears, and a strip of braided leather on her left bicep. Even her blue-black hair was done in a simple loose braid ending about her knees.

Eventually it came time for everybody to give gifts to the new prince. As was traditional for the heir to the kingdom, the first 'gift' was allegiance. A representative from each settlement in the small kingdom came and pledged their, and everyone else's, allegiance to the future king. Then the nobles came and pledged their allegiance, and gave varying gifts that doubled as political gestures. Next the relatives went through, giving gifts more suited to a child. Finally, it was time for his godmother to step forward.

She stepped right up to the cradle and the relatives had done. Unlike the relatives, she actually reached in and tickled him. As the young prince laughed, his godmother smiled, saying, "Well, aren't you just a sweet little dear. Well, for my first gift." She reached into the slit of her dress and pulled out a wooden hoop. She set it in the cradle with the prince, and it immediately burst out in golden leaves and berries. The prince, being all of three months old, found nothing strange in this and promptly began chewing on it.

The king cleared his throat and hesitantly asked, "I am grateful for your gift to my son, but I wonder what it is for?"

The Fairy waved it off. "Every child needs a toy. It is enchanted, but nothing spectacular. It will be of use to him though. Now, my second gift is more roundabout. I have some other enchanted items which are very useful. These will be given to _his_ children. Though that's a while in the future, he will appreciate them. And for my third gift." Suddenly she became deadly serious. "My third christening gift is Intercession." She rolled her eyes heavenward. "Because heaven knows he'll need it."

"What do you mean by intercession?" the Queen asked worriedly.

"It's a term meaning that if something along the lines of a curse happens to him, I am allowed to intercede. Basically, I can confront the person cursing him and have the spell changed in his favor, if not completely removed." Se turned and smiled at the Queen and King. "It's mostly precautionary, to make sure nothing truly bad ever happens to him. Well, I'll be in touch." With that the fairy turned and left the castle.

Once again, King Audun wondered if he should have refused to make the fairy his son's godmother.

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This is the first in a series that I'm calling Gwynach's Fables. Basically, a certain fey has barged into certain situations over the years. These situations have become good stories though a lot of the facts have disappeared or been warped. This is what really happened. It's amazing how much a girl can get around, even if she is close to immortal.

This is just a prologue, next chap will be soon. You'll actually get to hear why the prince was cursed. Anyway, R&R please.


	2. Trouble After Seventeen Years

Trouble after Seventeen Years

Seventeen years passed by without much incident. The kingdom went on as it had always done. The prince, who had been christened Valemon after his godmother left, grew up and was taught all of the usual things. One unusual thing was that Gwynach did indeed keep in touch. Usually fairy godmothers only showed up for christenings, weddings, and if there was trouble.

The godmother would just show up in a courtyard or in the forest, wherever the prince happened to be as long as it was outdoors. When he was younger she would play with him, tossing his golden wreath between the two of them. As he grew older they would talk, or she would sit and watch as he practiced his archery or swordplay. Often enough the King and Queen wouldn't even know that the woman had been around until Prince Valemon mentioned that he had seen her. Her visits were sporadic, but she always visited at least twice a year.

Then, soon after the prince's seventeenth birthday, the king became very ill. Later on a few people whispered that if the godmother had been around things would have been better. As it was, the choice was between sending for the village healer or for the learned physician. Later on Gwynach proclaimed quite loudly, "Why, in heaven's name, did you not send for the village healer!? She's healed things like that plenty of times. That physician kills have his patients!" A bucket of leeches and three quarts of blood later, we all know what happened. As this was a fairly common occurrence, the physician was in the next kingdom by the time the castle's chatelaine came in to check if anything was needed.

So Valemon became king. Unfortunately, he was fairly well overwhelmed. No one had expected for the king to die so early, so the prince was unprepared for fully ruling. Still, he struggled on. While the kingdom wasn't quite as prosperous as it was before, King Valemon did manage to keep everything together and didn't do anything to cause catastrophe.

He even held out for three whole months before the royal advisors tried to make a figurehead out of him. Not that King Valemon was incompetent, but they believed that he was too young to rule. In truth he was just too naive to see that his father's advisors were trying to take advantage of him. They had him in the main courtyard, trying to convince him of the wisdom of supporting some law they wanted made.

"Your highness, if you would simply consider for a moment," The head advisor said. "I am sure you will see that this will be for the good of the country. Furthermore…" He was cut short as an overripe apple bounced off his head. Several of the advisors called for the guards before they saw the woman sitting on the wall surrounding the courtyard. While most hadn't seen her up close, there was only one woman who could sneak into the castle grounds that easily, who had knee length black hair.

"Godmother, what was the meaning of that?" the young king asked.

The woman easily jumped from the fifteen-foot wall to land in front of the group. She gave her godson a warm smile before saying, "You should very well know that you're not going to get a decent answer to that. Now, I haven't seen you in over four months." She turned to the advisors and looped her arm around the head's arm. "I'm sure that this can wait long enough for us to have a talk." Gwynach led the advisors to the castle proper. Before releasing the head advisor's arm, she said in a voice too soft for anybody else to hear, "From this point on you will support the king. There will be no trying to control him. Otherwise I'll rip your limbs from your body. You know, the worst part of that is that you'll live through it." The advisor jumped and stared at her in shocked dismay. With the mild way she had said it, he was sure that she would be able to fulfill her threat.

The advisors went inside and Gwynach strode back to the king. They walked silently, the king stiff and formal. Finally his godmother said, "You know, you can start yelling now. It isn't healthy to be holding it all back like that."

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?" the king stopped walking and yelled with that slight push. "Why weren't you here before father died? Why did you wait three months before coming after he died!? You knew this was going to happen!" From there on out it degenerated into curses until Valemon grew silent.

"Feeling better?" Gwynach calmly asked when he grew silent. She started walking again, leaving her godson to follow. "Now that we are done with that, I can answer your questions. First of all, I didn't know that this was going to happen. I can't tell the future."

"Don't be ridiculous." The king argued. "Father told me how you were able to tell everything about my birth over a week before it happened."

"Dearling, I _can't _tell the future. But I do have a friend that can." She held up a hand before he could interrupt her again. "My home is very far away, and keep in mind that the rules work differently. Commonly, if people have the sight, they don't have their sanity. Furthermore, they have no control over what they see or when they see it. She gave me a very vague and confusing prophecy before you were born, where the only information that was plain was the details of your birth. I didn't hear about your father dieing until two months ago, and it takes a month even for me to travel here from my home. In any case, I'm no healer so my presence wouldn't have helped. You know that there is a perfectly good healer woman in the village. A home remedy from the chatelaine or your old nanny would have helped more than I could've."

"Surely you could've done something. You're a blasted fairy."

"Fey, sweeting, fey." she groaned. "Same ilk but a broader term. I am much wilder than any fairy. No matter how many times I say this, people just can't seem to grasp the difference."

"You don't explain it very well." the king grumbled. "Anyway, you still have magic. I don't see how you would've been helpless."

"One difference, since you aren't convinced, is that fairies have the same kind of magic that your human sorcerers have. Able to do near anything though not on any great scale. My magic is more specialized. I could heal somebody, but only under some very rare conditions. On the other hand, I can get into anywhere just as easily as I get here, regardless of powerful spells meant to keep me out."

Valemon stayed silent for a while. Finally he said, "I must apologize. It was wrong of me to try and blame you."

Gwynach waved it off before he could get further into his apology. "Valemon, you're seventeen. You're father died recently, and you've been left to rule a country long before you're really prepared for it. In situations like this, you're allowed to have some kind of an outburst. Just keep in mind when you're dealing with people that you should avoid doing or saying something that will cause hurt feelings."

"I just don't know what I should be doing. The kingdom was more prosperous when father was alive. I know he did a better job than me."

"You should do as you have been doing." Gwynach's godson shot her a disgusted look at that piece of advice. "I'll admit that there have been smoother transitions to a new king. But I'll also tell you that it is fairly common for someone as young as you to make a disastrous mistake when given authority this suddenly. You stumbled a bit but everything is still standing and there will be no lasting damage. And I do have a source that says that your father did worse than you have done when he first became king." Valemon stopped and looked at her incredulously. "Of course," she continued apologetically, "the man also insists that standing on your head for long periods of time will make your brain work better because of all of the blood pooling in it. I'm really not comfortable swearing by anything he says."

Valemon snorted and continued walking. "I'm surprised you don't have first hand knowledge."

"I wasn't interested in this area until right before you were born. You can't expect me to have personal knowledge about everywhere. I do have some practical advice for you though." The king listened to his godmother with renewed interest. "Host some kind of gathering. Invite all of the nobles of this kingdom, and royalty from some of the surrounding kingdoms. You've managed quite well, and it's time that you show that you have before people start thinking otherwise. Put on a show; let everyone know that your kingdom is just as strong and stable as it always was. Many nobles are always worrying over their own positions, and would rather be a well-rewarded traitor than be faithful and conquered. If they even think that their positions are in jeopardy, that is the only excuse they'll need. And kingdoms are always looking to expand. Best to avoid confrontation by showing that even if they are victorious it will be at too great a cost. You can stop several problems before they have a chance to happen."

King Valemon nodded, thinking over what she said. "I thought you didn't like politics."

Gwynach smiled, serious business over with for now. "If you haven't noticed, I also watch things a lot. I've seen wars break out over the most insignificant and foolish things. I've also seen kingdoms saved by the actions of the least important people. The right action at the right time can do wonders. Now, I hate to have to do this, but I'll have to be going after this. It'll be a couple of months before I can come back." Seeing her godson about to balk, she cut him off. "I'm having a favor called in. I don't get all this information and help for nothing. First I need to make sure the headstand guy hasn't given himself a hemorrhage, and then I have to do several things that would kill someone with slower reflexes. I'll stop back by when I'm done. Really, the only reason you want me around is for moral support. You're completely capable of taking care of everything."

Seeing that he wasn't going to win he argument, not that he ever won an argument with her, King Valemon bid his godmother farewell. Then he called the chatelaine and his advisors. He had a ball to plan and important guests to invite.

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Look at this, two chapters in two days. Considering my track record, I'm proud of myself. A warning, this is the last week of this semester in my college and exams are Monday and Wednesday next week. To explain two references, a chatelaine is basically like a medieval housekeeper. She took care of making sure everybody was fed, had comfortable rooms, and the castle was in good condition. Either a woman of the family, a.k.a. wife or daughter of the lord, would have this position or a woman would be hired. The thing about the bucket of leeches is referring to bleeding. It was a very common practice straight through to the Victorian era (I'll have to look it up to see when exactly doctors stopped doing it). The basic idea was that the doctor would take out the 'bad' blood, either by making shallow cuts or attaching leeches, and the person would then become healthier without it. I still don't get how they decided this when even at that time people knew that you would die if you lost too much blood.

I would also like to say that I know that grammar is my weak point. I haven't had anybody flame me for it on this story, but it has happened before. I would actually like it if you would point out where I make mistakes, just refrain from being hateful about it. And tell me exactly _where_ the problem is and _what_ the problem is. If you tell me that, I'll be happy to fix it (not limited to grammar). As always, R&R please.


	3. Meeting the Wrong Person

Meeting the Wrong Person

A month later King Valemon hosted a political ball. Officially, it was meant to let everybody with ties to the kingdom meet and greet the new king. After talking to the advisors, even they had to admit that it was a good idea. He had left out that it was his godmother's idea though. The head advisor had a longstanding dislike of the woman, so probably would have opposed it if he'd known the idea's source.

By royal decree, all the nobles of the kingdom came and were to renew their allegiance. Two kings from nearby countries had come to renew the agreements they had had with the new king's father. While no other kings were present, each monarch of the surrounding kingdoms sent somebody from the royal family. Along with the royals, politicians and ambassadors had come along, sent by the rulers if their countries. After the first day of the two-week affair, everyone agreed that it was a surprising success.

Velemon sat at the dias, overlooking the night's entertainment. Most of the political goals had been achieved in the first few days. Now, a week in, there was little left but merry making. He had planned forward enough to make sure that there was plenty of entertainment, knowing that several courtiers would be prone to troublemaking if they weren't kept busy. Still, perhaps it would have been better to make it last one week instead of two.

The two kings who had come were sufficiently convinced that he was a capable ruler, and had been treating him with respect. That was one boost to his confidence. The nobles were also much easier to deal with than he had feared. It seemed that a show of authority was all that was needed. Actually ordering them to come had accomplished that. Matters with the ambassadors were progressing along well too. The only thing that wasn't going smoothly was the women.

To be honest, he was used to being sought after. Before the death of his father, Valemon had been the only heir to a kingdom. Even if it was a small kingdom, that still made him a good catch. There was no vanity in the matter, that was just how things went. But, apparently, several princesses had been sent specifically to gain a political marriage now that he was king. The king knew that he would have to face this soon, even if the old king hadn't died, but he wished that the timing had been better.

Now wasn't the time to marry. Things were still a bit unstable, and it would be a few more months before he would be comfortable setting up a marriage. Plus, marriage agreements took money, which would also take a while to collect. Still, it wouldn't hurt to start looking through potential brides. Realistically, he would have to marry within the next few years and work on getting an heir. Even if it was a marriage of convenience, he wanted to at least be fond of his wife. He was going to have to live with the woman for a long time unless one of them died. Valemon didn't want to get stuck with a woman who was incredibly foolish, or who screeched like a harpy. It would also help if his wife had some leadership capabilities as well. While his mother had never done much besides sit at his father's side, it would be the queen's duty to rule if he wasn't present and act as regent if he died while his son was too young to rule.

Valemon stood, and started making his rounds. While he wouldn't be marrying too soon, it would help things if he could start ruling out princesses.

Hours later, one of the castle staff pulled him to the side. It seemed that there was a late comer. Though everyone who had been expected had already arrived. He was led to the room that they had put the new arrival in.

He walked in, drawing the attention of the room's occupant. King Valemon was struck speechless. Sitting there had to be the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She seemed to be in her early twenties, and stood just a couple of inches shorter than himself. Her skin was so light it seemed to glow in the dim room and her hair was that rare shade of silver blond. Said hair fell unrestrained in bright waves past her waist. Her body was lieth, with subtle curves. She wore a form fitting ice colored gown that brought out the nearly silver gray of her eyes. Her brows arched delicately and long eyelashes framed her eyes in silver. Her nose was perfectly straight and set above perfectly shaped pink lips. There wasn't one blemish or freckle to mar her white and silver perfection.

The king managed to catch himself after only a few seconds of silence, though he was perhaps a bit too proud of this modest accomplishment. He stepped forward and took her hand, placing a chaste kiss on her knuckles. Straightening, he said, "I am king Valemon. I welcome you to my palace, though I do wonder why you are here. We were not expecting any more guests."

"I'm afraid that it's a accident on my part. I am Princess Eido. My father rules a small kingdom far from here, though he traveled quite a bit in his youth. He wants to create ties with distant kingdoms, so he is sending me to marry the son of a king he once met. I was on my way to my betrothed's kingdom when the axle of my carriage broke. My guard asked around and found that there was a caste nearby. So, he and I rode here on horseback to see if we could find a bed and aid in the morning."

While he knew that he should be sorry for the lady's misfortune, all that popped in his mind was _thank god she broke down close to here._ Valemon bowed over Lady Eido's hand before replying, "It would be my honor to provide any aid I may. I will send out someone in the morning to see to your carriage. Feel welcome to stay for as long as it takes to repair it."

"I would hate to be a bother." She replied with a charming smile.

The young king tucked the princess's hand in his elbow with a smile of his own. "It is no trouble at all. As you can see, we are well prepared for guests. In fact, I would be honored if you would share in the festivities."

"I would be delighted."

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Well, this was short. Next chap will be longer though. Really, this was just to introduce the new character. Well, I'm glad that a few people are reading this. I even have two people who have this as an alert. As always, if you like it tell me why, and if there's a problem then tell me what it is. I'm just about out for summer break so I should be able to update fairly regularly. R&R please.


	4. Looks Aren't Everything

Looks Aren't Everything

Valemon spent the week in a daze. Princess Eido's carriage had been fixed the day after she arrived. Luckily, he had managed to convince her to stay until the celebrations were over. Valemon had managed to escort the princess the entire time, and even worked it so that she sat beside him at meals. While somewhere in the back of his mind he was aware that he was neglecting his other guests, he really couldn't make himself care so long as he was in Eido's company. She was absolutely enthralling. Everyday she wore a dress more magnificent than the last, edged in crystals and ermine. Her conversation and demeanor was perfectly charming, so much so that other women seemed crass beside her. She danced beautifully and even walked as if she weighed no more than a feather. She played the harp like an angel and was always gracious. In short, Princess Eido was perfect.

Which was why he was dragging his feet now that it was time for her to leave. Unfortunately, there was no reason for her to stay longer now that everybody was leaving. While Valemon had briefly considered extending the ball, he knew that it was a foolish idea. Most of his guests had things to do and places to be, so would leave anyway. Not only that, but continued festivities would be too much of a drain of the castle and surrounding land. So regretfully, he came to the main courtyard and bid his guests goodbye.

The king gave a good speech, proclaiming his well wishes and sincere sorrow at the departure of all of his allies. Once that was done, he approached Princess Eido's carriage. Her guard and servants were packing everything on top of the carriage as she stood patiently at the side. When she saw him approaching she met him with a shy smile.

"King Valemon, it has been a joy to be here this last week. I cannot thank you enough for your hospitality towards me."

Valemon caught her hand and raised it to his lips. "The pleasure has been mine. I am only sorry that you must now leave. If there is anything you need in the future, please do not hesitate to ask me."

"Thank you, I …"Eido gave him a wobbly smile and climbed into the carriage.

Valemon was sitting at his desk, attempting to look through all the papers that had piled up in the last two weeks. He should have started working on it the day before, but had been too worried about Princess Eido. She had seemed like she was going to break into tears when she turned away. But it wasn't his place to worry about her. She had told him from the start that she was traveling to meet her soon-to-be-husband. While the week spent with her had been amazing, he had known that nothing could come of it.

So now he was back to doing paper work and all the rest of the monotonous work of running his kingdom. That is, until a servant came in and told him that Princess Eido was waiting for him in the main hall. Later the servant said that he was surprised that there wasn't a trail of dust left behind the king.

When he entered the room Eido turned from where she sat with tears in her eyes. He only got a glance before she threw herself into his arms with a sob. Valemon gently patted her back and made shushing noises. When she calmed down he led her back to her chair. He sat beside her and offered her a handkerchief.

"Now," he finally asked, "what is the matter. I'll do anything I can to help"

The princess heaved a deep sigh before speaking. "You understand that my father sent me to these land to marry the son of an acquaintance." She waited for him to nod before continuing. "In truth, my father never actually met the man he wants me to marry. What is important to him is that he will gain ties to distant lands. He has sent me to meet my betrothed before though. Once when I was a child, again when I was nearly grown, and then again just over a year ago." She paused for a long time, as if the words stuck in her throat. "To be frank, my betrothed is a poor excuse for a man, not to mention more than a decade older than myself. As a child I saw him as a bully. When I next saw him he proved himself to be crass, simpleminded, rude, and still a bully. My last visit showed no improvement. The man wenches, drinks to excess, and is prone to fits of rage. He sorely abuses anyone under his power and shows no respect for women of any rank. His father is thoroughly ashamed of him, while his mother shows the wear of his temper. And this is the man I am to marry in only a few weeks."

"I'm sure your father wouldn't make you marry such a man." Valemon offered. But Eido was already shaking her head before he finished.

"My father believes that I exaggerate whatever failings by chosen husband may have. He is completely enamored with being connected to far reaching lands. He has each of my siblings betrothed to other friends' children spread out as far as he could. It would perhaps be differed if my proposed father-in-law admitted the character of his son. But the man doesn't want to tell his old friend what a wastrel his son is. Also, he mistakenly believes that my marriage to his son will somehow calm his son's temperament." Eido caught the young kings hands desperately. "Surely you see that I cannot marry that man."

Valemon thought about her situation as he comfortingly patted her hand. "Your father doesn't really care who you marry so long as he is from a far land, correct?" Eido nodded sullenly. "Well then, what if you married me?" The beautiful woman sitting beside him froze for a moment. Then she threw her arms around him with a cry of joy.

"Oh, I hadn't dared to hope. I had braced myself for the inevitable but then I came here and spent time with you…" She broke off and merely clung to him.

After a minute the king pulled back enough so that he could see her face. "Tell me, how may I contact your father. As soon as we hear from him we will marry."

"Oh please, let us marry immediately! My father did tell his friend that I would marry his son. It would be better if we were already married." She begged, her hands clinging to his arms.

"No, that could very well cause a war. I am sorry, but my country isn't at its best at the moment. If your father insists that your engagement stands then we will send for him. Once he sees your betrothed for himself he will agree."

Eido's hands tightened around his arms. "That could take months. I don't think I could wait that long. My father's kingdom is far away; he couldn't bring the army that far. In any case, if we were married he would simply accept it. He would have what he wanted, one flimsy broken agreement wouldn't be worthy of a war."

Valemon struggled within himself. He wanted to do as she said and marry immediately. After all, it wasn't as if _he _wanted to wait. The most beautiful woman in the world had just agreed to marry and was actually in his arms. But whatever he wanted, he was a king. His country couldn't handle a war at the moment. Even if it could, he wouldn't put his country through that. The way she explained it, her father didn't sound like he would put up much of a fuss.

"I am sorry, but I can't take that risk. I promise, everything will work out and that we will soon be married." He jumped as he felt several stings in his arms. The young king looked down to find that Princess Eido's fingers had dug into his arms and her nails had drawn blood.

"That's not good enough." She said in a flat tone. Then there was a flash and he lost consciousness.

Valemon woke up to something jabbing into his side. He opened his eyes and blearily saw the heel of a lady's shoe pressed against white fur. Somewhere in the fog of his mind, some part of him wondered why he felt pain from that. Then a particularly vicious stab brought a groan from him.

"Finally, you're awake. Get off your lazy ass." He looked up to see Eido standing above him. Part of his mind wondered at the flat tone of her voice. Another part was amazed at the sound of a curse coming from her mouth. Somewhere in the back he thought that there was something that he should remember. He tried to do as he said but his body didn't want to work properly. The young king managed to get to his knees before falling down again. He looked down. Instead of seeing his hands as he expected, he saw a pair of large paws covered in thick white fur. Added to that, he was looking down a snowy snout.

King Valemon looked up at his tormenter in growing horror and realization.

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Well, sorry for the wait. I don't have a really good excuse for this little month long break. I can say that I would've had this posted a week ago, but my internet has been acting funny. It hasn't been working at all on the computer that I'm writing this story on. But I haven't forgotten this. I will say that a review (any review) might help me write the next chapter faster. I do appreciate the two people who have this on alert but I would like to actually get some words. The real story will start next chapter. We will see Gwynach again and anything that you don't understand will (hopefully) be explained. Criticism and praise are both welcome and highly sought after. R&R please


	5. That Explains a Lot

Well, I've had this done for a while but I couldn't get on the internet. This will be the end of 'setting up' the story, so the rest of the chapters will follow the fairytale. As always R&R please.

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That Explains a Lot

She had locked him in a pen in the gardens. Well, she didn't have time to make a real pen so she just locked the gates so that he was kept in a small enclosure. The walls were thick stone and far to tall to climb over. The gates themselves were only wrought iron, which he might have been able to bend in his current form if he had gotten the hang of his new body. He saw no one except his tormentor. Someone threw raw meat over the garden wall three times a day, and he was left to drink out of the stream. There was no one whom he could enlist for aid. So Valemon was trapped.

After he had woken up, "princess" Eido had told him that she would turn him back if he agreed to marry her. He had, of course, refused. Despite the personal reasons for refusing, of which there were many, his conscience was clear since their marrying would make her queen. The was no doubt in Valemon's mind that his kingdom having a white bear for a king was better than his kingdom having that evil witch for a queen.

Two weeks into his imprisonment, Valemon was in a deep melancholy. He laid on the ground, not having the inclination to yet again attempt to find an escape. A few more weeks and he would probably lose that last shred of hope that he was clinging to. Whether he would simply give in to the witch's demands or resign himself to a life of imprisonment, he wasn't sure.

"I'm gone for two months and everything goes to hell. This rates as the second fastest disaster right after that thing with the goose and harp." Valemon looked up to see his godmother seated on the edge of the wall.

"So kind of you to show up now." He got a second look at her and added, "What happened to you?" Gwynach had about a quarter of her face covered by a bandage on the left side. The upper part of her left arm was also bandaged along with bandages covering that shoulder and disappearing beneath her shirt.

She shrugged in response. "It is very important that you not confuse copper and bronze dragons. Coppers shoot a thin stream of fire that is accurate up to 100 meters whereas bronzes breathe a broad flame that doesn't reach beyond 35 meters. That makes a large difference in the way you should handle them. Back to the topic at hand, nobody seems to know much of what happened. All that the locals know is that you became infatuated with some woman who appeared during your ball and then disappeared a week later when she took charge. I _was_ wondering what you were doing with a troll princess."

"A _troll_!?"

"Yes. Now, if you don't mind filling in the blanks?" Valemon told her about the story he had been told and his offer of marriage. Once he finished Gwynach just kept sitting, playing with her hair in a way that meant she was thinking.

"And I suppose you can't just wave your hands and change me back." He added.

"First of all, you know that isn't the way things work. Second of all, when have I ever waved my hands to do a magic trick? Unfortunately, transformations are about as far outside my expertise as physical healings are. And you did partially bring this upon yourself. Not that you came really be blamed." She added before he could get upset. "It's actually very common for older men and women to be caught by the same act. But you did promise to marry her after only knowing her a week, even if she didn't like your time frame. In the end, you'll have to wait a while and go through a lot if you are going to back into a human. Unless you just want to agree to marry Princess Eido immediately."

"Of course not." He growled. Then he froze as he realized that he actually growled it. After a moment of shock he shook it off. "So you can't do anything. Why do you always act as if you are all powerful, when you don't seem to have any magical ability at all."

"Now you're just being rude. I could go in and kill her for you, but them you'd be stuck as a bear. Not to mention that her father would be obliged to come with an army for retribution. It is occasions like this where thinking ahead is better than throwing about power. You do remember what your christening gifts were, don't you?"

The transformed king sorted. "A plaything, things that you will give my children if I ever have any, and some crazed form of aid."

"You know, if you hadn't been stuck in here for two weeks, I would be very irritated with your tone. And the term is intercession. Which is much different from aid. Normally, since this was partially brought upon by a stupid decision on your part, you would be on your own. Since your christening gift was intercession, I can go and work out a way for you to gain your freedom, kingdom, and form back." Before he could say anything, she stood up and made a half bow have curtsy on the narrow wall. "I'll see you in a few hours." The she hopped backwards, disappearing from view.

An hour later, Valemon felt his head spin. He clumsily got to his feet before falling back down as a new wave of vertigo swept over him. When his head finally cleared he found himself in a forest. He looked around, trying to get an idea of where he was. Finally he spotted Gwynach sitting on a fallen tree. "Well?"

"Congratulations, you now have a chance. Oh, don't look at me like that. A chance is the best that you're going to get."

"Okay, what do I have to do?" He was pretty much resigned at this point.

"Get married."

"WHAT!?" Valemon wasn't resigned to _that_.

"Not to the troll princess. You don't _have_ to marry a princess, but whoever you marry has to be noble. You've got twenty years to find somebody. Then, after three years you'll be free of Princess Eido. And in return for agreeing to this, from sun down to sun up you'll be human."

Human? "And what if I fail?"

"Well, if you don't marry in twenty years then you'll be stuck as a bear during the day and a man at night, separate from humanity. One good thing is that she'll leave your kingdom alone if that happens. She wants a husband, not a kingdom. But one really big rule is that whoever you marry can never see your human form. If she does before the full three years are up, you'll have to marry Eido within the week. At any point you can simply agree to marry her and the spell will be taken off. That is, if you agree to this. You can always just wait around and hope that a better option will present itself."

Valemon thought for a moment. "Why does she want to marry me?"

"Actually, the core of her story was true. Her father is a troll king that wants her to marry a troll prince. The difference is that he really doesn't care if she doesn't like him. Troll female royalty fall into two groups; they either look like trolls and are very meek, or they're absolutely ravishing and are as nasty as the worst of them. Also, the beautiful ones always think they deserve better. So, she ran off from her wedding to find someone to trick into marrying her, which would cancel any prior marriage agreement. You were just the first 'appropriate' king she found. Eido's agreeing to all this since a betrothal, which is what this is considered, puts her marriage to the troll prince on hold. Either you'll succeed and she'll marry him, or you'll fail and she'll get you.

There's an old castle you can stay in near here that's been enchanted before. It won't take much to reawaken the old spell. And your kingdom will be taken care of. Your advisors will be in charge rather than the princess, and reserve the right to cancel any punishment she may try to meet out. It'll be extremely unpleasant for everybody in the kingdom, but there won't be any indiscriminant hangings.

Though remember, this is your choice."

Valemon sat and thought for a long time. Gwynach didn't say a thing, simply let him come to a decision in his own time. When he finally came to that decision he stood up and sighed.


	6. To Be the Youngest

I know I haven't updated in forever

Well, it hasn't been quite a month. And now we introduce the other main character. I know that this is short, but I'll have another chapter up fairly soon. I've got 180 hit on this story, which I believe is the most I've gotten on any story. R&R Please.

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To Be the Youngest

Gala hurried through the palace halls. Her father had come back from his hunting trip and she had a stack of papers he needed to sign. Ever since the ambassador fell ill four years ago, it was her job to tell her father what he should do and deal with his paper work.

It wasn't that her father was being used. He was completely aware of what was going on. The problem was that he hadn't been raised to be king. King Boden had been the sixth son of her grandparents and no one had thought that he would rule. Then each of Gala's uncles died from various freak accidents in the months before her grandfather's death. Her father, woefully unprepared, depended on the ambassador to walk him through all of the diplomatic matters of the kingdom. After about four years the ambassador had given up on the king ever taking the reigns.

The ambassador had planned on tutoring the crown prince in politics from the cradle. But a crown prince was never born. The ambassador, pulling at strings, decided to teach one of the three princesses. Both of Gala's sisters were already being trained to become proper princesses by then. At eight, she had barely started her lessons before the ambassador pulled her out to tutor her personally. Her mother, whose best traits were her looks and her breading, hadn't been happy. Luckily, King Boden knew that he was hopelessly inept and that somebody would have to do it. Once she turned ten she acted as the ambassador's assistance. Then, once he became too ill, she replaced him.

Her father, who not only _couldn't_ handle state affairs but didn't want to, was happy to let her handle things and sign what she needed. She just had to catch him in between his jollies.

Gala crept out of the side door of the castle. It was almost impossible to get time alone, with all of the advisors after her to push some laws through and her mother trying to train her for her the next ball. The only way to get a moment alone was to actually sneak away from the castle, which she hadn't managed for weeks.

She went across the bailey as quickly as possible and was out of one of the small side gates before anybody caught her. Gala made her way through the eastern woods at a more leisurely pace. In four years nobody had found out where she disappeared and wasn't likely to find out as nobody ever went through that forest. It was too dark and dreary for the court ladies to visit and the hunting was horrible so none of the lords went there for sport. Not even the villagers bothered going there to hunt. There was an old legend about a cursed castle which kept everybody else out. While the first two reasons were understandable, the last was ridiculous. Everybody knew that that curse had been broken in her great-grandparents' time.

The princess idly wandered, trying to forget about her duties and the ensuing complications. The ambassador had had it a bit easier as he _was_ the ambassador. It was his job and duty to handle the country's politics. While Gala was born as a princess. Her duty from birth was to grow up to be a perfect lady, with perfect social skills and at least a few feminine talents, and to someday marry a prince or noble. That was the duty her mother and the courtiers wanted her to fulfill, as her sisters had. And then there was her necessary duty to make sure the kingdom kept running. Her father just assumed that she'd fulfill that duty but the advisors and secretaries were putting all their faith in her. While they would have all liked it better if the ambassador had trained one of their status to do this, she was the one he had trained and the one the king listened to. So they grudgingly accepted her place.

Unfortunately, that didn't help her in court. She still had to play the part of a royal princess which, partially from temperament and partially from missing much of the training her sisters had gotten, she was ill suited to. Her sisters were the darlings of the nobility while she barely managed. Any flaw in her bearing was picked apart and quickly became part of the gossip surrounding her. Gala wouldn't have minded that her sisters were so well liked in court while she was a source of amusement if everybody would simply that fact and let it be. Instead, she was continually maneuvered into situations where her lack of polish would be shown to the greatest effect, often times at her sisters' bequest. She would be happier to simply act as her father's secretary.

Gala paused in her musings and yawned. All the advisors and other politicians met early in the mornings, and she had to be there as she was acting in place of her father. She also had to be at all court functions, being one of the princesses, which usually lasted to well past midnight. Most ambassador retired early so that they'd be well rested for their meetings. All the courtiers, including her parents and sisters, slept till noon or later to make up for their late nights. That left Gala the few hours between the end of court activities and the advisors early political meetings to rest. If it weren't for the naps she took after the political meetings but before preparations for the court enjoyments, she would have started nodding off at one or the other long ago.

She soon spotted a nice dry place to sit down. There was a mound of earth higher than the surroundings at the base of a tree that angled back from it. Gala situated herself there and leaned against the tree. Luckily, it was at a perfect angel for her to take a little rest. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, relaxing her muscles. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

Her eyes cracked open. Groggily, Gala looked around, forgetting why she was waking up in a forest. Several yards away she saw a large white shape moving about. She blinked and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, looking again once she could see properly. Just ten feet away there was a giant white bear. Still a little more than half asleep and having to look through a sapling, Gala wasn't quite sure if it was really there. Then it swiped at the ground and something came rolling towards her.

Gala couldn't stop from gasping as the object came to rest near her feet. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It was a wreath made out of golden oak leaves and golden berries in small bunches. Unfortunatly, gasping was the wrong thing to do. The bear jerked its head to the side and looked at her, exclaiming "When the hell did you get there?!"

Wait, _did that bear just talk? _"Oh," Gala murmered, "I'm still asleep." The bear cocked its head, as if confused.

"Yes." It said after a moment. "You're still sleeping. Now close your eyes and relax."

Having yet to fully awaken, what he said made very good sense to her. She glanced down at her feet where the wreath still laid. "That is so pretty."

"I said to close your eyes." The bear growled. Gala frowned at him before following his order.

Her eyes opened once more. This time, after having gotten a decent amount of sleep, she woke up faster and realized where she was sooner. It also didn't take much time for her to realize the angle of the few shafts of sunlight that managed to get through the trees.

"Oh no, I'll be late for the ball!" Gala jumped up, grabbing her skirt up with both hands and took off at run back towards the castle. In her panic she didn't even think of the dream from earlier.

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Raeroochella- I don't know how you got that his wife can't meet him. The rule is that she can't see him in his human form. White Bear King Valemon is a very old Norwegian fairytale.

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New update. I busted the hard-rive on my computer which this story was on. It won't be hard to rewrite what I'd written but there won't be an update until after I get my computer fixed and I manage to rewrite the thing. Please be patient.


	7. Trapped at the Ball

Trapped at the Ball

Gala made it back in barely enough time to get dressed. She made her way to the ballroom, silently cursing the current fashion. Her dress was made out of layers of material, all of which was very heavy and cumbersome. Jewels sewn into the trim made it all even heavier. Corsets weren't too bad if they weren't too bad so long as they weren't laced too tightly. Unfortunately, her mother instructed that it be tight to try and slim her waist down. It was all topped off with a diadem, which always seemed to get heavier as time progressed.

Once she finally made it to the ballroom Gala took her place with her family to greet the guests. The king was at the front, next to the queen. Behind them were the three princesses, Crown Princess Gefion at the head, Freya second, and being the youngest Gala was at the back.

Crown Princess Gefion stood as the tallest of the three, only just past five and a half feet, with the king's dark brown hair in great curls and the queen's watery blue eyes. All of her features were rounded with full lips and arched brows, and a well-curved figure to match. Princess Freya, the smallest of the three, had her fathers laughing green eyes and tight ringlets of her mother's golden hair. She had a thin heart-shaped face with high cheekbones and a nose that turned up at the end, with a thin lithe body that few people can achieve. Gala was between the others in both height, though she was barely taller than Freya, and build. While she hadn't achieved Freya's delicate figure, she hadn't inherited generous curves like Gefion. Her eyes were dark blue and her hair was a dark red-orange, rather than the copper usually associated with red hair, which was perfectly straight. Her face was oval with a stronger jaw line than her sisters and eyes that tilted up at the corners.

Everyone agreed that Gefion took after the queen the most. Gefion excelled at all of the gentle womanly pursuits and had manners that even the strictest would find impeccable. Whoever the king married her to would eventually inherit the crown, so her marriage would be based on the leadership skills of the man much more than her personal wishes. While in others this would make the girl chase after romance, Gefion was happy not to worry about it. As she would essentially give a kingdom to her husband she didn't even need to attract a man or show any interest. Instead she strove to be the perfect lady, after her mother the queen. Every lady of high standing sought her advice on everything from managing servants to hosting gatherings. She was a favorite of both the elderly dowagers and the young ladies.

Freya took after the king as much as Gefion took after the queen. Freya was the darling of court, with an infectious laugh and a quick and witty tongue. She was as pleasure-seeking as her father and the first to suggest a hunt or dance. Her words and manner were just short of salacious but she was so charismatic that no one could hold it against her. As Gefion was uninterested in romance and Gala too busy, it would seem that Freya had chosen to shoulder the romance for all three. She was continually surrounded by suitors and would arbitrarily switch favorites as the mood took her. The crowd around her always laughed the loudest and the songs written in her honor were the most numerous (and the most suggestive).

If Gala resembled anyone, people supposed it was her grandmother. She had looked at a portrait of the prior queen and had to admit that they did have the same colored hair, though her grandmothers was surely fuller with more body, and their eyes were duplicates. But her grandmother's white skin was luminescent while hers just seemed unhealthy. And her grandmother was either leaner or shapelier, though Gala couldn't decide which it was. Most who had known her did say that she had shared Gala's one good talent.

After a couple of hours, as people filed in, the King and Queen officially opened the ball and started the festivities. Freya was immediately surrounded by the young men and a few of the more risqué of the young ladies. Soon after the dowager duchess pulled Gefion aside to discuss an upcoming trader's fair. Gala walked around a bit before going to the back wall and half hiding behind a statue.

Now that she wasn't hurrying to get ready or having to act polite and interested that strange dream she had had was at the forefront of her mind. It seemed far too real to be a dream, but with a talking bear what else could it be? It just proved what she already knew, that she had to start getting more sleep. What other reason could there be that she would imagine a giant white bear that could talk and that carried around a wreath made out of gold. It had been beautiful though. It was perfect, down to the rose gold veins in the leaves. It would be lovely to have something like that.

It wasn't as if Gala didn't have jewels or fine clothes. She just didn't get to choose those things for herself. Every now and then her mother would drag her to have a fitting but she never knew anything about the dress, even the color, until the final fitting. Her mother and her maids choose all of that. Gala seldom got to shop for herself. Whatever time wasn't spent at court functions that her mother insisted she attend was spent taking care of her political obligations.

And to be honest, that wreath was the only frivolous thing that she had really coveted. Which was silly as it was something she had dreamed about. It wasn't as if it was a real item she could buy.

Gala caught sight of Freya and eased further behind the statue. It wasn't really that she disliked her sister, but she was considered a killjoy by the second princess and most of her followers. She could ride only as long as the horse was well behaved and stayed at a walk, didn't know the latest fashions, wasn't a wonderful conversationalist, and tried to avoid dancing. For them there was little else left in life.

And to add to that list, she had horrid luck. Freya somehow saw her and waved her over. There wasn't any way that she could pretend not to hear and walk away as several of Freya's companions noticed her too. Regretfully, she made her way to the group.

"Gala dear, Mother wanted to see you. You should go find her." As soon as the words were out of her mouth Princess Freya nearly completely turned her back on her sister to say something to one of her suitors.

Gala looked over at the dais but the queen wasn't sitting there. "Where is mother, Freya?"

Freya looked at the dais and then scanned the ballroom. "I'm not sure." She threw over her shoulder. "Mother asked me to find you but it was a while till I saw you." _Meaning that she hadn't been looking in earnest and it was merely coincidence that she had seen Gala and remembered._

Gala took off across the room, sure that it had been quite a while since Freya had been sent to look for her. After about five minutes she heard her mother calling for her. Gala turned to see her mother bearing down on her. She met the queen halfway.

"Where were you? Gala, you _must_ stop disappearing from these functions." The queen caught her by her wrist and dragged her across the room. "The musicians has been prepared for nearly half and hour. They are going to play "Call of the Sparrow". Get up on the platform and I'll tell the minstrels to start."

"Wait, you just told me about this. I haven't practiced." Gala tried to protest but her mother ignored it.

"You don't need practice. Thank heavens you have such a voice. It is your only displayable talent. You've hidden for most of the ball already and nobody sees you when you aren't fussing with your papers. The court has to see you do _something_ presentable."

Gala was nearly thrown at the dais. Not giving her a chance to try to argue more, the queen headed towards the musicians. Gala caught her breath and turned to the crowd. _Why must we go through this every time?_

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Hello again. Wow, over 300 hits. Sorry for the long wait. I finally got my computer back and fixed up, which took way longer than it should've. And then I had a string of projects that took most of my time. But I am now over the midterm hump, so the next chap will be out soon.

Anne- Okay, now for clarification of the curse. If...

20 years pass and he hasn't married anyone he will be stuck as a bear from sunup to sundown and human only at night. He won't be able to reclaim his thrown and will be stuck in the castle Gwynach set up for him.

He marries a woman of noble birth, then on the third anniversary of their marriage the spell will be completely broken. They go back to his kingdom and everybody (but the troll princess) is happy.

He marries but his wife sees his human form before the three years are up, then he must marry the troll princess within the week. His prior marriage will be annulled as soon as the second marriage starts.

Just to clarify... He can be with his wife at night just so long as she doesn't see what he looks like. Also, (I'm not sure if I put this in the story) the woman he marries has to fully agree to it. In other words, he can't just abduct someone.


	8. Don't Work Till You Get Ill

Don't Work Until You Get Ill

Gala groaned as she rolled over in her bed. The week had been horrible. The festivities, which were supposed to end three nights before, had been extended for four more nights. What the king hadn't bothered remembering was that an emissary was set to arrive the day after the festivities. Gala usually managed to get her father to make sure that balls and major political works didn't coincide, as it put her under too much stress. But, as she hadn't been told of it before the public announcement, there was nothing she could do.

Soon she would have to meet with the diplomat to see about a new trade agreement. It was all set up with the advisors of the kingdom so that it wasn't apparent that she was the one leading the country politically. Then she would have most of the rest of the day to rest until the nightly ball. That is, as long as she didn't get dragged to any earlier activities.

To top it all off, she was feeling horrible. A cough in her chest had kept her up most of the night. It seemed that whenever she fell into a good sleep her own coughing would wake her up. She was freezing cold and her chest hurt. But there was no way that she could cancel the meeting with the emissary. The fact that she was mostly in charge was supposed to be a secret, so it wasn't as if the advisors could explain that the meeting had to cancelled because the princess was ill. So there was nothing for it but to dress warmly and drink plenty of mint tea.

Giving up on sleep, she had an early breakfast and managed to down three glasses of the aforementioned mint tea before going in for the meeting. She had some trouble paying attention but managed to keep up. The advisors, seeing her state, took down a lot of notes and asked the questions she wasn't aware enough to think of. The meeting went smoothly despite Gala not being able to fully immerse herself in it. By the time it was over some of the nobles had finally awakened.

Gala was stopped by a couple of young nobles on her way back to her room. They greeted her as was polite but then decided to try to have further conversation with her. After several minutes she was forced to plead her ill health to escape. Before she managed to leave one of them asked if she would be attending the hunt. Gala managed to suppress a groan, though just barely. She was horrible at riding but the queen was always trying to have her improve in it. If there was a hunt her mother would make her attend. Gala managed to get away with a vague statement about how it would depend on her health.

She made her way to a bench and tried to think of a way out of it. Gala hated having to ride at the pace required in a hunt and would do everything she could to avoid it in her current condition. She hadn't yet been ordered to, so the only problem was to make sure that nobody found her to be able to order her to. That left out going back to her room to sleep, as the queen would know that she was there. Actually, the queen would know if she was anywhere in the castle. If her mother wanted to she could know everything about every visiting noble while they were in the castle and the royal family would never have to worry about any schemes or plots. The notion simply never crossed her mind. The queen only used her extensive network of servants when she wanted to find her youngest daughter. She also couldn't try to hide outside, as everywhere would be filled with people either waiting for or preparing for the hunt. Someone would be sure to stumble across her and it would be difficult to plead bad health while outside.

The only place left was the eastern forest. The hunting was notoriously horrible and no one would consider going there. But that meant a fairly long walk and then resting on the cold ground. Of course, the other choice was bouncing up and down on a horse for a few hours.

Gala stood up and made her way out of the castle.

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Twenty minutes later she was making herself as comfortable as she could in a small hollow. Gala had stopped by her room to get her fur cloak so she was fairly warm, though her chest was still bothering her. She was also having trouble keeping her eyes open. Finally, she gave up and let herself fall asleep.

Gala slowly became aware of something nudging against her. She groaned and curled deeper into the warm mass surrounding herself, thinking it was her mother or one of her sisters who wanted her to do something. Unfortunately the prodding didn't stop. One more forceful push set her off into a coughing fit. Gala took deep breaths in between coughs and clutched her chest. Once it was over she curled deeper into her covering and tried to catch her breath.

"What are you doing out here while you're sick?" a deep, gruff voice demanded. _Wait, why is there a man in my room?_ Gala pulled the cover from her face and looked out. Rather than seeing her bed drapes as expected she saw the bare branches and fallen leaves of the forest. Standing over her was an enormous white bear.

"Well, what's the matter with you? It's foolish to fall asleep in a forest and even more foolish to go out when you're feverish. Do you have a deathwish?"

Gala stared at the bear for a moment, trying to process what she was seeing and hearing. "That's strange." she murmured. "I usually don't have the same dream twice."

The bear bent his head down, peering closely at her flushed face. "You're truly out of it, aren't you? You need to get up and go home." He went back to nudging her, trying to get her upright. Gala sluggishly complied with his demand, falling into another coughing fit once she was sitting up. Once it was over the bear caught the hood of her cloak in his mouth and pulled her up. Having no real choice she stood up, but had to sit down again once the bear let go as she got dizzy. The bear huffed and she got the feeling that he was irritated with her.

Remembering the contents of her last dream Gala looked around, hoping to see the golden wreath from before. She pulled her cloak closer around her shoulders and tried to peer around the bear. He just sat there looking at her, as if trying to figure out what to do with her.

"Were do you live?" he finally asked, standing up.

"The palace." Now that he had moved, Gala saw the wreath beside him. She leaned over and reached out for it before she remembered her manners. She asked, "May I?" looking up to the bear's face. It looked at her in confusion for a moment before noting what her hand was reaching for. He seemed unsure for a moment before grudgingly nodding. Gala moved her arm forward the final few inches needed to grab the loop. Once she had it she cradled it in her lap, lightly running her fingers along the delicate work. Surprisingly, the leaves were light and flexible rather than stiff the way that beaten gold should be. "It's very lovely."

The bear ignored her statement. He seemed to think for a few moments more before asking, "If I brought you to the edge of the forest could you make it the rest of the way yourself?"

"I suppose so." Not that it really mattered. _This is just a dream anyway._ But, as long as she was still asleep, she might as well enjoy being able to study the wreath.

The bear crouched down and started nudging her again. "Come on, get up on my back and I'll carry you." Gala sat there for a moment before what he said sunk in. She wrapped one arm around his back and pulled herself up to her knees.

"I'm a very bad rider."

"Just lay down and hold on. I'll go slow." He flattened himself against the ground as much as he could. Gala managed to pull herself up and get a leg over him, all the time keeping the wreath in one hand. Once she was settled on top of him he stood up and started walking through the forest.

Gala gently rubbed her face against the bear's fur, sinking into the warmth of his back. She fell into a half sleeping state as she was carried through the forest. The silence was only ever broken by her occasional coughing. While one hand was buried in her ride's fur, the other held the wreath by her face. As they traveled one finger constantly ran along the edge of an oak leaf. Even though she usually dreaded riding, this was actually very pleasant. Which only proved that this was a dream. There was no such thing as such a soft, steady ride in real life.

After several minutes the bear stopped. Gala didn't even notice until he turned his head and asked if she was still awake. She mumbled something to the affirmative and lifted her head to look at her surroundings. They were near the edge of the treeline and she could see the towers of the castle sticking up over the horizon.

Once again the bear flattened himself against the ground. Gala slid off but managed to keep herself upright by holding on to him. The bear stood back up and she was forced to grasp his fur to keep her balance. "Can you get to the palace on your own from here?"

"I think so. Thank you." Gala was still a little delirious but she let go off her companion and walked a few feet towards her home before the sound of someone clearing their throat brought her up short.

She looked back at the bear, who appeared to be giving her a pointed look. In her current state Gala wasn't able to figure out what he wanted. "The wreath." he finally said. She looked down at her hand, just then realizing that she still had the golden wreath. She knew that she should give it back. It would be impolite to ask for something from someone she barely knew. _But I really want it. And this is a dream anyway. Why shouldn't I get what I want in my own dream?_

Still, when she faced the bear again she was nervous. "In know this is rude, but do you think that maybe I could keep it." The bear just stared at her. "Just for a while." she amended. He just gave her a strange look and she ducked her head to look at her shoes.

If she had kept her head up she would have seen his gaze turn calculating. "I never asked for you're full name earlier."

"I'm Her Royal Highness, Princess Gala Britt of Genlan." She still kept her head down so she completely missed his reaction to that news.

He recovered very quickly. "You must understand, that is very important to me. It was a christening gift from my godmother." Now Gala felt even more embarrassed. Without saying a word she held it out, offering it to him. "I could give it to you as a present though. If you would agree to something for me."

Finally Gala raised her head. "Yes?"

"If you would marry me." He shot her a serious look, which was completely lost on her still delirious self. "Then it would be my wedding present to you." Gala didn't even think about it. She answered with a simple 'Yes'. There was no way that all of this was part of reality. Everything felt more dreamlike than real. _Except for my chest_ she amended as she fell into another coughing fit. The bear came to her side and she clung to him to stay upright. He seemed to frown at her and stayed silent while she tried to catch her breath.

"You need get back to your home, that cough is starting to sound worse. I'll give you three weeks to get better. Then I'll come to the castle and take you back to my home with me. I'll have everything prepared for you're stay, so you don't have to pack anything." He nudged her towards the castle with his nose. "Go on before you fall over. Remember, three weeks from today. Be ready."

Gala stumbled through the trees towards the castle. Once she got past the trees she paused to look back. Impossibly, he bear was already gone, without even a hint of white in the dark wood. She pulled her cloak closer around her shoulders. After pausing to think, she fumbled around for the inside pocket of it. Once she found it she slipped the wreath inside.

It seemed like she walked for hours, though the castle wasn't very far away. She had to stop fairly often to let coughing fits pass. Now that she wasn't distracted and didn't have a giant mass of fur against herself all her previous symptoms were coming back to make her miserable. Her headache was getting worse the more she walked, her chest hurt, her throat was raw, and she was absolutely freezing.

When she finally reached the courtyard Gala was exhausted. She stumbled her to a bench and sat down. Slowly she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, deciding to rest before continuing.

---

Gala woke up to the sounds of the fire being built up. Frowning she tried to remember where she was. She pulled her coverings down to be faced with the familiar walls of her room. By the fireplace a maid was warming a bedpan.

"Ulla?"

The maid spun around in surprise. "Oh, milady!" she exclaimed. "I didn't realize you were awake."

"What happened?" Gala asked drowsily.

"The court found you sleeping on a bench in the courtyard when they came back from the hunt." Ulla walked to the bed and pulled the sheets up to Gala's chin. "You've had a very bad fever. The Doctor said that you had a chest cold which might very likely turn into pneumonia from being about in the cold for so long. We have to be very careful and you need plenty of bed rest."

Still feeling horrid and her memory being fuzzy, Gala allowed herself to be tucked in and went back to sleep.

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Well, here we are again. 1 favorite, 3 alerts, and over 450 hits. I am really happy that people are actually reading this. I don't really have an excuse for my absence except that I get really busy at college. I can only appolagise. But I am out until next month. I will try to get the next chapter out before Christmas. Some reviews might hurry the process. As always, R&R please ^-^


	9. A Moment to Remember and Reflect

A Moment to Remember and Reflect

Gala never did well when cooped up for long periods of time. She should be enjoying the rest, even if it was forced, and catching up on sleep while she could. It was just that she couldn't help worrying about things. The emissary was still there and having meetings with the advisors, which she couldn't attend. One of them came by after every meeting to appraise her of the situation but it wasn't the same as actually being there. And with her bedridden, there was nobody to make her father focus. The main reason the advisors depended on her was because of her ability to make the king stay still and focused long enough to sign everything that was needed. She wasn't sure how they were managing to accomplish that.

She stayed in bed for five days before the physician said that she could be up for short periods of time. Luckily, by this time all of the visiting nobles were gone. All she was really allowed to do was join her family for meals and sit in different rooms. Even then she wasn't allowed outside or to even open a window. The physician was still worried about her cold turning into pneumonia, especially since they were heading deeper into winter. Gala was finally able to talk to the advisors in proper meetings after a little over a week and a half of rest.

Over two weeks after her fainting spell the physician finally told her that she was over her illness and could go about like normal. Gala immediately started working on all the things that had been piling up since she had fallen ill. As expected, there was a large pile of things that the king needed to sign along with the trade agreement that had been made with the emissary to overlook. She was swamped with things to finish, which was why she nearly never took a break. There were simply too many things that she had to take care of.

Finally she got most of her things done and was able to take a break. After being cooped up for almost three weeks Gala was ready to go outside. She managed to get away from another meeting with the advisors well before her sisters or mother would wake up. She grabbed her cloak and headed out to the courtyard, as it was getting far too cold to head out to the forest. She walked over to one of the benches and sat down with a sigh.

Until something jabbed into her backside. Gala frowned. She shifted and pulled the side of her cloak around, trying to think of what it could have been. Reaching into the pocket, she became more confused when her hand closed around what seemed like leaves and sticks. What she pulled out was a wreath that seemed to be made out of gold. Gala's mind went completely blank for a minute, trying to process what she was seeing.

She remembered it of course. It had been in that dream the day of the ball several weeks past, and she had thought about it during all of the festivities. And slowly, another memory came back to her. Most of it was fuzzy, but Gala remembered certain parts, mostly when the bear was speaking to her. And if the wreath was real then…

Gala jumped up and nearly ran to her room. She stayed there, too panicked to accomplish anything. Somewhere during her panic attack, she managed to count the days. It had been twenty days since she had been out.

---

Valemon sat in the forest, waiting until he would go and claim his bride. He had decided to wait until noon so that she had plenty of sleep but it wouldn't be too dark before they got back to his castle. She had had plenty of time to recover and to prepare for departure. In truth, he would have been surprised if she hadn't written it off as a dream if it weren't for his giving her the wreath.

He only hoped that she wasn't too coddled. Of course, even as the youngest princess of a kingdom, she would be used to servants doing everything for her and having balls and other entertainments very often, but hopefully she wouldn't bemoan the loss too loudly. Valemon was prepared for a certain amount of misery, but it was within reason to hope that she was biddable and would be overwhelmed enough that she wouldn't be very demanding. His worst fear was that she would be a harpy when not half-asleep or ill, but she hadn't seemed the type the few times he had met her. He was lucky to have found someone who would marry him at all, even after nearly a decade. And there was no possible way that she could be worse than Eido. So he would simply put up with whatever he had to until the three years were up.

"You seem more depressed than usual. Though I am encouraged that you are within a ten minute walk of a castle with a few princesses and surely a fair amount of noble ladies." He grunted and turned to look at his godmother. It had never really fazed him when she appeared and the effect had become even less startling since he had been cursed. She smiled in greeting before continuing. "So, seen anybody you fancy? Or anybody at all. I understand that most people avoid this forest."

"Actually, I found somebody to marry me." At this Gwynach perked up.

"Really?" she grinned. "How far along are you to convincing her? The last time I checked on you was only a month and a half ago, so you can't be that far along."

"I'm picking her up in a few hours to bring her to the castle." He replied, hoping that she wouldn't question it. From the first he knew that that wouldn't happen.

Gwynach's cheery attitude disappeared in an instant. Her back straightened and she gave that calm, assured look that usually had people questioning the intelligence if displeasing her. "Valemon sweeting, I do sincerely hope you haven't done anything incredibly stupid. I would so hate to chastise you now that you're full grown." She waited a few moments for that to sink in before exhaustedly ordering, "Tell me everything that happened."

There wasn't all that much to tell. He hadn't been around her more than five hours in total and didn't know that much about her. After he finished Gwynach just sat there, putting her thoughts together.

"You realize that you are pushing it, so far as her agreement is concerned." She finally said with a sigh. "She was out of her head with a fever and you acknowledge that she thought that she was dreaming." Valemon's godmother waited a moment to give him a chance to respond. When he remained silent she continued. "On the bright side, she does fulfill all the requirements that you need. And you said that she had an unusual affinity for the wreath?" She waited for his nod, which he gave with confusion, and then turned to stare into the forest. "Then things should turn out okay." she said almost to herself.

"What is so important about that wreath?"

"Hmn?" He couldn't help but be irritated that Gwynach had apparently stopped listening. She turned back to her godson. "Okay, I'm going to leave you to it. I just have a couple of requests, which are for your own good. First of all, don't act like an ass as soon as you get her away. I realize that the last ten years have put a strain on your breeding and manners, but this girl hasn't done anything to gain any form of mistreatment. You used to be fairly charming, I expect you to dig up whatever manners remain and treat her with some courtesy.

And secondly, do try to make this work with her. You only have to keep her around for three years for the curse to be broken, but you'll still have to live with her for the rest of your life. And I can assure you, you do not want to be married to somebody that resents you or outright hates you, especially if there is no one to blame but yourself. She isn't in an ideal situation and I would like you to remember that."

Valemon snorted. "I think that it's too late for that."

"Not necessarily." Gwynach stood up and dusted off her clothes. "From what I've been able to overhear, the youngest princess is actually a good choice, despite the trouble you'll probably have just getting her. Well, as always, I have things I have to do. Please remember what I said. I will be close by if there is a catastrophe."

As Gwynach disappeared into the forest and Valemon turned back to the castle, noting the changed angle of the sun. _Soon now._

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Well, I didn't make it in time for Christmas, but I did manage to post before classes started. Thank you to those of you who are reading this and have been patient with the long waits. Nothing much happens here but I hope to have the next chapter out fairly soon before I get busy with classes again. As always, R&R please.


	10. Pay Up

Pay Up

Gala nervously paced in her chambers. She hadn't been able to bring herself to tell anybody about her agreement with the enchanted bear. No one would have believed her. Everybody knew that magic was real and that her story was completely possible. But these sorts of things happened to other people. You would hear it second hand from somebody that someone had been enchanted in another kingdom, or you heard that it happened to one of your ancestors. Whenever it did happen close to home the people involved were always shocked.

But regardless of the fact that no one but her knew, she was certain that the bear would appear. After all, he had said he would. Sometime during the night, during which she was unable to sleep, it occurred to her that he had been rather considerate to let her go back home until she was well. He would have been within his right to take her immediately. That thought still didn't make her feel better though.

Throughout the afternoon, evening, night, and the next morning she managed to repeat all of the reasons why she couldn't possibly leave to be the bear's wife many times over. First of all, the advisors and the kingdom needed her. She was the political head of the kingdom, and did a job her father would never be able to accomplish even if he wanted to. Gala couldn't imagine what would happen if she were gone for more than a month. Secondly, her parents would never let her leave quietly. Her father was very well aware that she was essential to the kingdom running smoothly. And the queen would be displeased that something like this had happened to any one of her daughters. The reason for that was also the third reason why the whole scenario was so horrible. A lot of the time when you heard of somebody getting into some kind of situation dealing with an enchantment or curse, the person came out fairly well. But the chances of it ending in anything but catastrophe or death were anywhere from one in two to one in twenty, depending on the type of situation. Her father might forget about the work Gala did periodically, and her mother might wish she had been able to shape her into a proper princess, but neither parent wanted their child to be in that kind of dangerous situation.

And there was no real way out of if. They could refuse, as her parents doubtless would at first, and hope that the bear would simply accept it, but they couldn't push it. There were horror stories about what happened to people who refused to hold to their word when dealing with magic. And the bear was large enough and likely strong enough to push his way through any kind of physical opposition. One could argue that she was barely conscious, but she had been aware enough comprehend what was going on around her, even if she had been unable to recognize it as reality. She had agreed to become the bear's wife, and for a _wreath_!

If anything, Gala had become more tense with the rising of the sun. She knew that the bear would appear sometime soon. She looked back to the wreath, as if to assure herself that it was still there and she hadn't imagined all of it. Then her gaze swung back to her window, gauging the angle of the sun. It was about lunch time and she'd have to face her parents soon.

---

Shouts erupted outside, causing Gala to jump up and race to her window. Which was useless as her chambers didn't face the front gates. She made a mad dash for the front of the castle. Several servants she passed openly gaped at her running through the halls, but didn't have time to question the fact before they were passed by. She flew up the stairs, past some guards running down, to the parapets. Once she reached the top Gala almost threw herself over the edge to see.

Below, fairly well past the castle's outer wall, sat the bear. In front of him were a score of the palace guard. While the entire group was wary looking and at attention, no one was moving. Obviously they knew enough to not be fighting him, but no one knew the whole story yet, else someone would have already sent for her.

Gala nearly had a heart-attack when a minute later both her father _and_ mother came racing up the stairs. "Princess Gala Britt of Genlan, what in the heavens is going on!? There is a _talking_ bear outside who claims that you are his _wife_ and insists that you come out so that the two of you can leave! I _insist_ that you explain."

"What in the world has been going on." the king added. Haltingly, gala explained everything that had happened, particularly stressing the fact that she was very ill when she had agreed to marry the bear. When she finished the king and queen stood completely dumbfounded for several moments.

Finally the queen turned to her husband. "Boden, this is ridiculous. That bear took advantage of the fact that Gala wasn't in her right mind. Send someone to go tell him to go away."

"I'm not sure that that's such a good idea Mother." The queen turned back to Gala and gave her a look that made clear that she sounded deranged. "I don't _want_ to go, but bad things always happen when someone opposes a magical creature. He's talking so there has to be some kind of enchantment involved. If the bear doesn't leave here with a wife there is no telling what will happen."

"Still, we can't just let it take you away." The king though for several moments. "We'll see if he can be driven away." He turned to one of the three soldiers who had followed them up. "Tell the Bear that we demand he leave. If he doesn't then don't harm him but try and drive him away. If that doesn't work then we'll try something else."

All three of them leaned over the wall to see what happened. The young soldier soon ran out and gave the message to the captain of the guard. They watched as the captain came forward and gave the command to leave to the bear. The bear said something they couldn't hear and then stepped forward. The guards came forward and tried to fight the bear without actually doing any real damage. The bear responded by knocking them about. It seemed that he was aware that they didn't intend to harm him and so didn't harm them in turn. Still, it was obvious that he was going to win the battle so long as the guards held back.

Gala turned to hr parents to see what they would do next. While her mother was still watching the guards, the king seemed to be thinking deeply. Finally he turned to a guard and commanded that he go and get Princess Freya. The queen realized what he was thinking before Gala did.

"Boden, you can't be serious. I can't believe that you are even considering letting that thing go off with _any_ of the princesses. And in any case, why are you sending for Freya? _Gala_ is the one he came after."

"Hanne!" Everybody froze when thy heard the king raise his voice. He was usually very amiable and was more concerned with pleasure seeking than anything else. "We don't have any choice." he said, gentling his voice. "Who knows what kind of curse or something will happen to us if we really try to kill the bear. And I believe that after a while the bear will simply come in and take Gala. We _need_ her here. Everyone involved knows that I can't lead the country politically. We are in the middle of an important trade agreement which no one but Gala fully knows how to work. While we can't let him take away Gala, he may accept a different princess. I'm sure that he won't bring her to any harm. It's the best option we have." The queen looked like she wanted to argue but couldn't come up with a good response.

Freya arrived quickly, coming up the stairs at a run. The King told her everything that happened. When he finished Freya was horrified. "That's not fair! He tricked her. Gala could barely tell where she was when we found her in the courtyard. He can't take her!"

"We know it isn't fair, but the bear is going to end up leaving here with a princess. We can't stop him. And we're sorry, but it's going to have to be you."

"WHAT!?"

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Well, another chapter. I had an oil painting, a watercolor, and an English essay due last week and this week I have an art history essay. I actually have good excuses for not having this done earlier so I wanted to list them. I hope to have the next chapter out relatively soon. In the original fairytale the older sisters are your stereotypical ugly, hateful evil siblings. I hope I've managed to make Gala have an undesirable family life, but I'm not going to make her family evil. This will be shown more in the next chapter.

On the other hand, thank you for reading. I appreciate those of you who have this on either their favorite or Alert. I'd like to especially thank Anne for reviewing so much. For the rest of you, R&R please.


	11. The Princess Grab Bag

The Princess Grab Bag

The king took Freya by the arm and pulled her far enough away that their whispered conversation couldn't be heard. Even the queen didn't approach them. Gala had been in shock ever since realizing that her father actually intended to send her older sister out instead of her. And to hear him talk about how much she was important was surprising as well. She had known that he knew, but he had always, if not made light of the fact, at least treated it as a matter of course. But even though she agreed that she was needed, Gala didn't agree with sending Freya out to the bear.

"Father?" The king and the princess turned at her interruption. "I think that if somebody is going to go down there it should be me. I'm the one who agreed to it in the first place."

Freya looked frozen for a second, before a look Gala couldn't identify flickered over her face. It was only a moment and then her face took on the expression she wore when about to brag about something to her followers. "I don't see why _you_ should go down. I thought you didn't have any interest in men. I'll bet that he's either a sorcerer or a prince. Just see, I'll be living in a castle even more magnificent than ours and have a whole new wardrobe along with more jewels I'll ever possibly be able to wear. Why shouldn't I be the one he marries? After all, Gefion gets to be the next queen and you get to rule the kingdom till then. I'm the only one left out." Freya used the bright smile that always enchanted the courtiers. "Don't worry about being lonely without me. When I get to visit I promise to show you all of my magnificent new things. Now, I need to get down there before my new husband gets tired of waiting."

Freya cheerfully skipped down the stair while a soldier trailed behind. Gala and her parents all leaned back over the wall to see the scene below. While they had been speaking, the soldiers had continued to try to fight the bear off with no success. They watched as a soldier came running out, followed by Freya a bit behind. He shouted something they couldn't hear from so high up and every soldier who had been fighting immediately backed off.

The bear looked around warily at the group of soldiers. The soldier came forward with Freya still trailing behind with her cloak wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Once they were close enough the soldier seemed to say something and made a gesture back to Freya. The bear took a quick glance at Freya and immediately came to her side. Within ten seconds he had managed to lift her up onto her back and was halfway to the eastern forest.

Even after they were out of sight everyone stayed where they were. Nobody was happy about the situation, but they couldn't bring to mind any better option. Finally, since there was nothing else to do, everyone made their way back inside. Meanwhile Gala stayed on the parapet, still looking out towards the eastern woods.

---

"Their Highnesses have decided to allow your marriage to the princess." Valemon looked over to where the guard gestured. Woman's frame, dark cloak, rich dress. He didn't look any closer after having to wait outside and then fight the palace guards. He just wanted to grab her and get her back to his castle. Within moments he had helped her climb onto his back. Then he went for the forest at a dead run.

They had been in the forest for several minutes, getting back the only thing on his mind, until he remembered that she couldn't ride very well. He immediately slowed his pace, though he still continued to go at a quick walk. They stayed in silence for a few minutes. Valemon wasn't sure what to say after abducting her from her home.

"Are you holding on okay?" he finally asked. "I can slow down more if you are having trouble staying on."

"No, I'm fine. I'm an excellent rider."

Valemon stopped in his tracks. "What?" He twisted his head around as far as he could and saw green eyes and blond curls. "Off!"

He didn't give her any aid but the young woman swung down easily. He turned and studied her. Valemon was amazed that he had mistaken the girl for his future wife. Gala was lean but this girl had the tiny figure of a pixie with none of the curves that Gala had. The bright tight curls and pale green eyes were the complete opposite of her dark features. The only thing they had in common was that they were close in height and both had pale skin.

"What is the meaning of this!?" he growled.

The girl seemed shocked for a moment before she pulled herself together. She squared her shoulders and put on a social, bright smile. "I am Her Majesty Princess Freya. I understood that you came to the palace because you wished to marry the princess. I am quite content to become your bride, so I don't see that we have an issue. I assume you live in a castle, do you not?"

Valemon ignored her attempt to start a conversation. "I came to collect a girl named Gala. She claimed to be a princess." But his godmother had confirmed that. It would be nearly unheard of, but Gwynach could be mistaken. Maybe. Possibly.

"Oh, my little sister is _far_ too young to marry. And though I hold her in my highest affections, I must say that I'm not sure if she's suited for it. She's never had any experience with men, never flirted in her life. Gala's always been more interested all those documents of hers and doesn't have the slightest clue how to be sociable." The princess took a step forward and gave an overly friendly smile. "As I said, I am happy to become your wife."

"I have no need for a trollop for a wife." Valemon snorted. No matter how eager the girl was acting at the moment, she wasn't the one who had agreed to marry him. And he was fairly sure that he would prefer the other sister. He could already tell that the girl was so gregarious that she wouldn't be able to stand being in a castle with only him. Freya was one of those people who needed to always be entertained and had to have some follower to fully appreciate them. And he very much doubted that she would suffer in silence. "It'll only take you a few hours to walk back to the castle.

When you get there tell the king and queen that I will be back tomorrow. I'll even wait for the afternoon so that the_ other_ Princess can have plenty of time to say her goodbyes." With that Valemon turned and went on his way, leaving the princess to get back on her own.

---

The noise of people running by her door and calling out woke Gala from the sleep she had finally succumbed to. She groggily tossed her covers aside and pulled on her robe. When she opened the door she saw the maids running to a fro. As one went by she caught her arm.

"What's going on? Has something happened?"

"Oh," cried the startled maid. "Milady, Princess Freya has returned. She came walking to the castle a few minutes ago. She is in the solar with Their Highnesses." Gala let go and the maid curtsied before rushing off again.

Gala tightened the sash of her robe and rushed off herself. When she entered the solar she saw her parents at two of the seats while Freya sat at a chair that had been pulled close to the hearth. Even Gefion was there. When she entered the room they all turned to look at her.

She self-consciously tugged at her robe and made her way to the final seat, though she didn't sit down. "What happened?" Gala turned to Freya. "I don't understand why you _walked_ back into the castle so early in the morning."

Freya huffed in a way that foretold trouble for any who knew her. "Apparently, I don't suit the bear's taste. He didn't even notice that I wasn't you. You should have seen him when he realized it. He just left me there in the forest and made me _walk_ back."

"He informed her that he would be back this evening to collect a different princess." the queen added.

"Then when he comes I'll go with him this time." Gala glanced at her family nervously. "He's going to leave tomorrow with someone. It's supposed to be me anyway, so I'll go."

"Don't be ridiculous." Gala turned to Gefion in surprise. "We've already discussed it and I will be going tomorrow. As Father has already said, you have duties here of which you are the only one qualified. A princess shouldn't have those particular responsibilities, but it is too late now. As you already know, I don't particularly care who I marry. Freya can easily enough marry the next king, though she will have to learn to behave a bit better."

The king added, "We will try to fight him off again, but since that'll doubtless fail Gefion will go."

Seeing that Gala was about to argue Gefion cut her off, saying "It has already been decided. Now, if I am to leave tomorrow then I must get some sleep. Good evening." With that she left.

Gala looked around to the rest of her family, who simply shrugged and made their way to their own chambers. With no other choice, she did likewise.

---

Valemon had been in better moods. For one thing, it was a miserable day with dark thundercloulds darkening the sky and a persistent rain that never truly became a downpour but never let up either. Once again the soldiers had tried to fight him back. He was tempted to unsheathe his claws, and to stop checking his blows. Still, it would hardly engender him to his bride if he really hurt her soldiers. And they couldn't keep it up forever.

So he continued until it was much closer to sunset than he would have wished. Finally the guards retreated once again. Knowing what was happening this time, Valemon looked towards the entrance to the castle. With the torchlights behind her, it was hard to recognize the figure. He looked as close as he could, though it was difficult between the large cloak she was wearing and the torches. He did manage to make out dark hair and a rounded face and she was fairly short.

He didn't want to give them a chance to change their minds so he took up the young woman and headed off to the forest. After all, Gwynach had said that there were only a couple of princesses. If they had been willing to give him a princess on his first appearance, then they weren't likely to try to pass a maid off for the princess now.

After they were well into the forest Valemon slowed down, but he still kept at a quick walk since the sun had already set. He was still a bit irritated after having to fight for so long, and about the fact that he had grabbed Princess Gala's sister yesterday. He could mentally understand it to some extent, but that didn't help much.

"I want you to know that I will make sure that no harm comes to you, so there is nothing to fear. Though I don't understand why your sister was sent out yesterday." Valemon paused and waited for the princess to say something, but she stayed silent. Something didn't seem right, and now that he thought of it he could have sworn that she had been lighter. He came to a complete stop. "Speak to me." he ordered.

"And what would you have me say?"

Valemon growled under his breath. "Off." The girl swung off, not as well as the girl the day before, but better than his princess. "And who the hell are you?" he asked with narrowed eyes. In the dimness he could still see little more than what he had seen before underneath her hood, but there was no mistaking the difference in their voices. He did notice that this girl was a little under half a foot too tall, and that she had more mass than his princess.

The girl straightened herself into what was surely perfect posture underneath the cloak. "I am Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Gefion Britt of Genlan."

"How many damn princesses are there here?" Valemon half growled and half roared, loosing his temper for a moment.

The princess jumped but managed to pull herself together. "There are only the three of us. I am the eldest and Gala is the youngest."

He narrowed his eyes at her, it suddenly occurring to him that she had said that she was the crown princess. Usually a crown prince's safety was considered paramount until he was old enough to start his knight's training. The safety of a crown _princess_ was treated even more importantly, since there was no male heir and any other princesses would likely be married or betrothed to princes of other kingdoms, not necessarily near each other, and they wouldn't want to combine kingdoms.

He stalked closer to the princess who stumbled back before remembering herself. "Why would they send out the crown princess instead of the youngest? She is much more expendable. And why is she running away now?" A growl crept into his voice. "She agreed to come and be my wife, and she didn't _seem_ to be the kind to go back on her word."

"_We_ decided that she would not be the one to leave with you. Gala is the only one qualified to do a great amount at the palace. On both occasions she volunteered to be the one who left with you, but we wouldn't allow it." All of this seemed to be said out temper, though she stayed cool without a bit of passion in her voice. Within a moment she had gained control of herself and a slightly condescending note came back into her voice. "I don't see what you take issue with. You wished to marry a princess and you have already been given two. You can't honestly expect one to believe that you fell deeply in love with my youngest sister in the small amount of time you spent with her, so there is no reason for you to be so particular about which princess you take with you. I am not particular about whom I marry, so I find no hardship in leaving to become your bride."

Valemon growled and stepped closer, already convinced that he would never be able to stand living with this woman for three years. The princess in question again forgot herself and stumbled back.

"I will take you to the edge of the forest, only because it is raining and you would likely never find your way back to the palace if I left you to walk on your own. I _will _return tomorrow at _noon_, since I don't want to travel at night again and I want to get a good look at who I take. I will _not_ leave until I have Princess Gala, the one who I intended to fetch from the very _beginning_, with me. So you had best tell both her and the king and queen. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly." She replied in a voice that wasn't quite as authoritative as it had been before.

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Sorry for the wait. I meant to have this posted last week, but college essays really cut into my writing for fun time. But, I do believe that this is my longest chapter so far. Unfortunately I have more essays coming in the future, but I will try my best to work on this.

I actually want some opinions on this chapter. I am trying to portray a few things and I'd like to know if I am succeeding. In the original fairy tale the sisters are ugly and evil(as usual), while the youngest is the king's favorite, and the queen never really shows up. As you already know, none of the princesses aren't ugly and the king is hardly ideal. But none of Gala's family is evil. The problem with her father is just that he is a grown man who never really grew up, both in regards to the way he conducts himself and the way he hasn't lived up to his responsibilities. Her mother isn't intentionally cruel, despite several chapters ago, but she is one of those people who have a certain view of how things are supposed to be and it bothers her when things don't match it. If you took that away from her she'd crumble. In the older two princesses I am trying to create a dichotomy. Namely, Gefion is nearly passionless and has built her life on what her duties are and what role she has to play. Freya is too passionate, and at this point seems like she will end up being like her father and never grow up. I'm also trying to show how both extremes cause trouble, though that will come into play more much later.

I would appreciate it if you could give me your opinions on what I said above and on the chapter as a whole. As I have said, if you find a grammar mistake, or just someway you think this could be better then tell me. As always R&R Please.

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I just went back and reread this chapter. I was so busy just trying to get this chapter out between doing five page research essays that I didn't realize that I had made Valemon break the rules of his enchantment by being a bear at night. Well, that's fixed now. I hope to have the next chapter out within the next couple of weeks. Thank you for your patience.


	12. Third Time's the Charm

Third Time's the Charm

The next day was the same story as the two previous. But Valemon could detect a distinct difference. Everybody knew how the evening was going to end. The guards, while they did try to fight him off, did so even less than half-heartedly. It hardly lasted over ten minutes before they drew back. He turned to the gates, having already been through this twice.

Valemon was gratified to see that there were no tricks this time. The girl who came through the archway had her hood down and there was nothing to disguise her appearance. He easily recognized the deep red hair that reached past her hips, the dark eyes, and the nearly glowing pale skin. It occurred to him that this was the first time that he had seen her when she wasn't either half asleep or delirious from fever.

She came to stand before him nervously, twisting the corner of her cloak. The irritation he felt was getting a little harder to keep up, even though it was justified. The girl had yet to look up from her shoes, and overall presented a picture that made it very difficult to keep any negative emotions directed at her. And according to her sister it was her family who had decided that the other two would go the previous times. Not that he was quite sure that he believed that.

"Are you ready to leave?" he said curtly. Rather than saying anything she simply nodded. Valemon crouched as low to the ground as he could for her to get on. Even then he had to reach back with one arm and help her scramble up. The girl was truly inept when it came to riding. She finally got astride him, grasping his fur with both hands to hang on. Without saying anything else he set out to the forest.

They walked for the better part of the day in complete silence. It wasn't until they were within a quarter of an hour of their destination that Valemon spoke again. "We're almost to the castle. The whole place is enchanted so there are no servants and you don't have to do any of that sort of work. There's a large library and materials for any interests you have. There's plenty to amuse yourself with. You can also explore the forest if you wish. Within the castle you'll have almost whatever you want."

"Thank you." Gala mumbled, still preoccupied with keeping her balance with his odd gate.

They could now see the towers of the castle through the tree branches. It was rather modest, as far as castles went. It only had two stories and each of the four towers at the corners of the curtain wall were only a story higher with some storage space above. It didn't have an outer curtain wall or moat, only a deep trench around it. It did have three drawbridges, the main one at the front and one smaller at the side and back, but the chains had long since rusted so that they couldn't be pulled up. There was a small stable within the bailey and a tool shed, but there were none of the other buildings that usually accompanied a castle. The whole thing was very small, and obviously not made to stand up to an attack, or to have many people living there. It was a fact that Valemon had been happy about, as living in a large echoing castle like he had grown up in by himself for ten years would have driven him crazy.

He continued to carry his bride over the main drawbridge and into the bailey. Once they got to the main doors of the keep he crouched down to let her slide off. Valemon pressed his shoulder against the door to open it and then escorted his princess inside. They went through the main hall, which was rather barren, with Valemon leading the way while Gala remained silent. The continued up the stairs, which were blessedly shallow, and then down the hall.

They stopped when they reached the door on the room he had chosen for her. Valemon had chosen it for her right after their last meeting. He could only get through the doorway after sundown when he was human, but he had made it as comfortable as he could during that time. The walls had already had colorful tapestries on them, and the bed was pretty much the best, which was why he had chosen it for her.

He had also made sure that she had plenty of very nice dresses and jewelry, confident that they would mollify her at least some. There were certain rooms in the castle that were full of a certain kind of items. If you went in wanting something more specific then the enchantment would oblige, making the things that fit with your wishes appear in front of the mass. Valemon had gotten everything from what he thought of as the wardrobe, which was full of clothing, shoes, and various accessories. In the kitchen the tables and counters were full of food and drink that never went bad, there was an armory with every weapon and armor one could want which all fit, the tool shed outside held several of every tool there was, the solar held leisure materials for an unlimited amount of interests, and there was a study with unlimited scholarly tools. There were a few more but those were the main ones. Another convenient thing was that the castle didn't require any maintenance.

Along with the clothes, he had brought in everything she would need to sew or embroider, and a few instruments in case she could play. He had never really involved himself with what the highborn ladies of the court did before he was cursed. The majority of what he could think of wasn't available in these circumstances, like directing servants and socializing with other highborn ladies.

"This is your room. It should have anything you need, but if you think of anything then tell me. The kitchens downstairs are always filled with food, so you may take your meals whenever you like. The only thing I insist on is that you do not light any of the sconces or hearths anywhere except in the room you are in at night and don't leave any lights behind when you leave. Otherwise, you are free to do as you wish." He had carefully decided to make that one edict so that she wouldn't accidentally see him at night. So long as there was only light where she was he would be able to avoid walking into a room she was in and he could avoid her if she was walking down the halls. Otherwise it would be far too easy for her to bump into him and then he'd be forced to marry the troll. "I'll leave you to settle yourself." Valemon said before walking back down the hall.

---

Gala nervously opened the door and looked over her new room. She had to admit that it was even better than the room she had at her parents' castle. Testing the bed, she found that it was even better than the one her parents slept in. The tapestries would help to keep the chill out and gave this room a sense of comfort that most of the rest of the castle lacked. The other contents of the room were also of the highest quality, though completely useless to her.

The lute and harp in the corner were magnificent. Unfortunately Gala had never learned how to play any instrument. Freya could play both, and often did so to entertain the courtiers, but while she was learning that, Gala was learning how to negotiate trade prices. The same with sewing. Gefion made beautiful embroideries that everyone in the court admired. Many of her dresses along with some of Gala's and Freya's dresses and kerchiefs were covered in her embroidery. The Queen often despaired about Gala's inability to perform either of those basic womanly talents. So, despite the workmanship of the instruments and the quality of the thread an embroidery hoop, there wasn't much in the room that she could use. The bear had mentioned that there was a library though.

Gala continued inspecting the room and started shifting through the closet. Within were some of the most magnificent dresses she had ever seen. Each was very fine, made out of fine fabrics died in rich colors. Unfortunately, she could tell that a great many required assistance to get into, like most very fine dresses did. There were some day dresses and such that she could get into on her own at least. She'd have to get some more regular dresses. All the accessories were very fine too, though a bit too much for everyday use.

Looking around the room, she tried to think about how she was going to handle things. It could have very well been worse. It didn't seem like the bear was going to do anything in retribution for having grabbed the wrong princess twice. He also seemed to want to make sure that she was comfortable. Gala wasn't sure how things were going to be, but it didn't seem like it'd be too bad.

---

Valemon stared out across the forest from the parapets. The sun had set a little while ago so he was human at the moment. His new wife had spent a while in her room looking through things before wandering through the castle for a little while. She had eventually found the kitchen and took her supper. Last he checked she had gone back to her room and was probably asleep.

Things had actually gone much better than he had expected. One of his worst fears had been that the princess would break down and start weeping and begging to be brought back to her home. She had also refrained from getting in a rage or complaining, or otherwise acting childish. She hadn't really said anything, but it didn't seem like she was sulking either. All in all, his bride had seemed rather serene.

Valemon had never expected to find a bride easily. The only way he had ever thought that a woman would marry him, happily and completely willingly, was if she thought she would get something in return. He had also always expected to have to at least somewhat coerce his bride. He could only be glad that his bride was taking everything much better than he had ever expected.

"Well Sweeting, seems like you finally got her." Valemon didn't even have to turn around to recognize who was speaking.

"Godmother. It's only been a couple of days since your last visit. Can I assume that you have been around here the _entire_ time?" He finally turned to see Gwynach's expression.

The corner of her mouth quirked in a familiar way. "Well, I'd say that that statement is pretty much correct." Valemon snorted in response to that irreverent statement. "Oh come now," she said, dropping her teasing tone, "what would you expect me to do? Walk into the palace and insist that they send out the correct princess? You managed to work it out in the end. I do wonder what you're doing up here on your wedding night though."

"I don't see why I shouldn't be. I've made sure that my wife is comfortable and left her to her own devices. I'm sure we can get along well enough without bumping into each other too often until the three years are up."

Gwynach half sighed half groaned and looked p into the sky. Valemon frowned, as she usually only did that when someone was doing something she found extremely foolish. "Dear, I do believe you are overlooking something." She paused, giving him a moment to either divulge that he wasn't, or to suddenly realize what she was talking about. "I'll walk you through it. If you two were married today, and you weren't cursed so there was a proper ceremony and feast and everything else, what would be brought out for viewing tomorrow and why?"

"The bed sheets to prove that my wife was virginal."

"Partially correct. And what would have been the final ceremony tonight right before you and you wife were confined to your room?"

"The bedding ceremony."

"And the point of these two events is to…?"

Valemon stiffened as he suddenly realized what his godmother was leading to. "To prove that the bedding actually took place." The marriage wasn't completely legal until it was consummated.

"Well, you have three years, and it shouldn't be too hard to get close to her if you took my advice and didn't act like an ass."

Valemon groaned.

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Well, I actually had some free time. This is my last week of regular classes and next week is exams. I'll be able to update more frequently once summer break starts. That is the only excuse I have for being late with this.

For those who haven't, go back to the last chapter. I realize that I messed up with the curse and Valemon at night, but I fixed it. My excuses for that are at the bottom of that page. The stuff about the bedding ceremony and showing the bed sheets is actually pretty much historically accurate. Not much action in this chapter, but the story is progressing. I don't intend for this to become a M rated. Them consummating their marriage is necessary for those of you who know the story.

I'll try to have the next chapter out sometime soon. As always, R&R please.


	13. Study the Situation

Study The Situation

The next morning Gala lounged in bed. Normally she would be up early to take care of whatever needed taken care of, but she didn't have any responsibilities at this place. She was still worried about how everybody was going to handle of all of the things she usually dealt with at home, but there was nothing she could do. The bear had made it very clear that he wouldn't accept a different princess. Gala would simply have to hope that they managed to work something out.

That still left her wondering about what she was going to do. She was so used to being busy balancing her political and social responsibilities that it was odd to not be expected somewhere. Gala thought over what the bear had said the day before. He had obviously put several things in her room so she could occupy herself, but as she couldn't sew or play any instrument they were rather useless. He had mentioned that there was a large library. He had also given her permission to explore the castle and the forest. _Probably best to explore the castle today_, she thought.

Gala finally got out of bed and started searching through her new wardrobe for something appropriate for just walking around in. That was a surprisingly difficult task. While there were some day dresses that didn't require assistance to get into, all of them were far too rich to simply wear around. She would have probably worn one of them if there were others about, but there weren't. When Gala was in her own rooms at home she would wear simpler, more comfortable clothing since it wasn't necessary to impress anyone. As there weren't any courtiers in the castle and she wasn't likely to see her husband, she would rather dress as she would then.

Eventually she found a rather simple pale green under dress with a dark blue over tunic. Gala threw it on and belted it with a simple leather girdle before pulling on a pair of slippers. Then she made her way down to the kitchen she had found last night. As before, it was easy to find from the delicious smells coming from that direction. As soon as she entered she was again mesmerized by the sheer amount of good food that was spread out over the table. There was one plate, a luxury, with tableware set and only one seat. Gala filled her plate with fruit, over which she drizzled cream and took several honey rolls, along with a few slices of beef. She also poured herself a glass of milk to go with it, deciding against the pitcher of ale.

After polishing off her plate she made her way to the main hall. The main hall was impressive for the size of the castle, though it was obvious that it had been in disuse for quite some time. It had two very long tables running down the length, complete with benches and then a high table with separate seats at the head of the room on a dais. To one side was a giant fireplace that Gala could easily stand in, before which stood several more chairs. The tables could easily be broken apart and moved so that the center of the room could be free. All in all, it was a rather common main hall.

To the back was a set of stairs, a small door that lead outside, the main doors, another discreet door to the side, and, of course, the door which lead to the kitchen. Deciding to check downstairs first she made her way to the small door. It ended up leading to a short hallway, which held more doors. One lead to some sort of office, which was mostly bare, another to an armory which was full to bursting and had another door which lead outside. There was also what seemed to be an herb room that was severely out of use. The other few rooms were pretty much bare.

Afterwards she made her way upstairs. Most of the rooms were mostly bare guest rooms. Gala found that her room was actually the closest to the solar. The solar was a surprising change from the general starkness of the other rooms. Like the two other rooms she had seen, it was almost full to bursting. Only the center and the area around the two chairs were free. She found another door at the back. Knowing that that was where the main family rooms usually were she hesitated in entering.

Deciding that it would be rather ridiculous to not be able to enter the private rooms of her own home, Gala opened the door and moved onward. She ended up in yet another hallway with more doors. The one of the closest doors ended up being some kind of study. Again, it seemed to be one of few rooms in the generally barren castle that was filled with an excess of items. There were a few empty bedrooms that were obviously meant for children, especially as one had a cradle covered in cobwebs tucked into a corner. These rooms actually seemed to be in more disuse than the rest of the castle. She moved onto another door and found what the bear had obviously been speaking of when he mentioned a library. All of the walls were covered in shelves, with four freestanding shelves through the center of the room. Against one wall, in a small space free of the shelving, was a desk. Even there the only area free of shelves was under the desk, where one's legs went. Against one wall was even slots where scrolls were rolled up. Whoever had created the castle was obviously a scholar. This collection was easily twice as large as the old ambassador's. Determining to return the room some other time, she left.

The second to last door opened to a surprise. It was another bedroom but, unlike the others, it was actually in use. The bed even looked like it had been slept in and no one had bothered to remake it. Gala had thought that she and the bear were the only two who would live in the castle. While the bear could get in through the main doors and could make it up the stairs, he was far too large to get through any of the other doorways. But someone was obviously using the room, even of it didn't seem particularly personal.

Since it was obviously someone's room she closed the door without interring. The final door opened to a small staircase. Gala followed it down until it opened up to what she recognized, to her delight, as a bathing room. At home she bathed in a small wooden tub that was placed before the fire in her room, which had to be filled by servants with buckets. The main focus of the room was the large wooden tub in the center. It was big enough to hold two people and when filled the water would probably reach her shoulders. Hanging directly over the rim of the tub was a water pump, bypassing the need to haul buckets. Upon further inspection she found a drain affixed to the bottom of the tub, making emptying it much easier as well. There was another pump beside a fireplace. In the fireplace was a grate which three large pots sat, allowing one to heat water easily for the bath. Against one wall was a set of shelves where various soaps and other bathing accessories sat. There was also a wrack near the fireplace which drying cloths hung on.

Gala had always enjoyed being clean and bathing, and this room made the whole process much easier. With just a glance at the set of shelves she could see that she would be able to indulge herself much more than she had at home.

Once she got up the stairs she noticed the angle of the light coming through a window. As soon as she saw how much time had passed she realized how hungry she had gotten. Sunset was only a few hours away and she hadn't eaten anything since waking. Deciding to go ahead and have an early supper, she headed down to the kitchen.

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Valemon still wasn't sure how he was going to handle his new wife. He had the right to just climb into her bed tonight, explain about his transformation, and demand his husbandly rights. But that option didn't seem palatable. She had been tricked into marrying him, but she wasn't loosing too much. In fact, she could have nearly anything she wanted in the castle and had free reign. He also intended for her to keep anything she wanted once the three years were up.

And at the back of his mind he had always thought that they would likely part ways after the three years had passed. Valemon had always thought, assuming that his marriage likely wouldn't be brought about in an amenable manner, that his wife would probably prefer to part ways. If she came back to her family chaste it would be even easier for her to move on afterwards and probably find a new husband. But actually consummating the thing would make it feel too much like a real marriage.

It wasn't as if he really had a choice though, since it wasn't a marriage until it was consummated. Last night Gwynach had told him that it would probably be okay so long as it had been done before time was up and he'd have to see the troll again, but she had also told him not to dawdle. The sooner it was done the better, as the troll could always make an argument if it turned out that one or two years had passed before the consummation.

Which still left the problem of getting into his wife's bed. Despite the years and the strain on his manners that his godmother often mentioned, Valemon still shied away from bedding a woman who wouldn't welcome the act. Which meant that he would have to somehow get his wife to warm to him and then seduce her. Neither of which he had any idea of how to accomplish.

The last contact he had with any woman had been ten years ago when he was seventeen. That was except for Gwynach but she hardly counted. Even then, the only woman he had actively pursued was the troll witch. Just the thought of it left a bad taste in his mouth.

Swallowing his anger, both at his current situation and past wrongs, Valemon made his way into the castle to see of Gala was somewhere he could get to in his current form. No matter what, at least speaking to her was definitely the first step.

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A new chapter. And less than a week after my final exam. Another set up chapter, but there will be more character development in the next chapter. I am happy to say that several different people have this on their favorites or on alert. Still, reviews make me update faster, especially as I don't have any school work until August. Also, if someone wants to beta this I would appreciate it. As always R&R please.


	14. Move Forward

Move Forward

Valemon was lucky enough to find his wife in the kitchen. While he could stay in the main hall quite comfortably and could manage the stairs fairly well in his bear form, the kitchen was actually one of very few rooms that he could actually enter in the daytime. He simply had too much bulk as a bear to get through just about any of the other doorways in the castle.

At first she didn't notice him, as she had her back to the door. It wasn't until he walked around to the side of the table that she saw him. His wife immediately placed her hands in her lap and gave him a nervous good evening. After a moment where he tried to decide what to do, Valemon simply lowered himself down onto the floor and made himself comfortable.

"Good evening. And how was your day?"

"Ah, fine. I just explored the castle." The conversation was horribly stilted. Valemon mentally groaned, and tried to think of how to keep the conversation going.

"If you saw anything that wasn't to your liking then feel free to change it. I never really bothered to do anything once I came here, so all but a couple of rooms are the same as they were when the castle wasn't inhabited. I'm sure you noticed the different rooms which are like this one. You can get nearly anything you want. If you can't find something then you can tell me in the evening and I'll show you where it is."

His wife nodded and tried to give him a polite smile, though it turned out to be a rather weak attempt. She seemed to struggle for a moment with whether or not to say something. Finally she said, "While I was looking around I noticed that there was a bed chamber in the family rooms that seemed like someone was using it. I thought that was odd as it seems to be the only one besides mine that is even properly furnished. I was wondering if there was someone else living here?"

"No, it is only us two."

"Oh." She was obviously confused at that response, which was understandable. Valemon sighed as he quickly thought of how he was going to answer her.

"That was my chamber." The response to that statement was a look of disbelief, which she quickly managed to tramp down. But not anywhere near quickly enough for it to remain unnoticed. "I believe that it is fairly obvious that I am under some kind of spell." He waited for his wife's nod before continuing. "I am only in this form from sunrise to sunset. During the remaining hours of the day I have my human body. So I have a bedchamber so that I can be comfortable during that time."

"So at night you are human?" Valemon wanted to growl that he was always human, he was just cursed to have a bear's body part of the time. He managed to choke down the words and simply nodded. "Oh…then…perhaps later tonight we can share a small meal here. Or maybe tomorrow since I've already eaten. I don't mind waiting until sunset."

"NO." He didn't realize that he had been so sharp until he saw his wife jump in her seat. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to calm his initial panic. "I'm afraid that it wouldn't be practical. I can't really explain everything and the reasons behind some things, but you can't see my human body. I don't object to spending time with you after dark but it would have to be in a room without any torches or candles lit and with a cold fireplace. It would be impossible to eat in that situation."

Valemon opened his eyes and met his wife's gaze. She seemed to think for a moment before saying, "All right, I understand."

"Actually, now that you know I'd like for you to keep the fact in mind." He hadn't really meant for her to know much, but it seemed like they were going to become much closer than he had originally intended. At least if he succeeded they would be. Things would be more likely to work if she were also vigilant. "As I said, I can't explain everything, but there are harsh consequences for seeing my human body. I'll need you to also be careful that we don't bump into each other after sundown when there is enough light that you could see me. Understand?"

"Yes."

Valemon checked the window of the kitchen and saw that the sky was darkening. He only had about an hour, maybe less, until the sun set. Even though he still had time he decided to go ahead and take his leave, both to give his wife some time to consider everything that had been said and because he couldn't think of anything else which they could talk about at the moment.

He stood up and gave his wife a nod, the closest he could come to a bow in his current form. "I'll leave you to finish your meal. If there is anything you need during the night I will likely be in my chambers, so just knock." With that he left.

---

As odd as it was, when she was told that the bear turned into a man at night the first thing that occurred to her was that she had shown very bad manners by not sharing the evening meal with him. Under normal circumstances if she had done that her host would be extremely insulted. It hadn't bothered her when she thought of him as a bear because he obviously couldn't sit and eat at a table. Once she knew that he turned into a human after sundown her manners kicked back in, taught to her by both her mother and from the ambassador for political reasons.

So Gala immediately tried to repair her mistake. And then nearly jumped out of her skin when the bear snapped at her. It was hard to recognize emotion on his face, but he was obviously agitated. At the moment he looked more like a wild animal, whereas she hadn't really thought of him like that since she first saw him.

The bear went on and explained the reason for his answer in a calmer manner. He seemed to expect some kind of response, so Gala said something appropriate. She had learned a long time ago how to say something appropriate to the situation that didn't really mean anything without having to think about it. The bear went on to ask for her help in making sure that she never knew what he looked like as a human.

She knew better than to disobey any rules that were set by him, especially after being warned that there were consequences. Women who did so in these types of situations ended up having unpleasant things drop from their mouths or were compelled to try and accomplish an impossible task. If the bear said that they couldn't be in the same room at night when there was any light, then they wouldn't be.

The bear stayed silent for a moment after her agreement before taking his leave. His parting words were too short, but he seemed like he was trying to be somewhat polite. He wasn't doing a very good job but it _did_ seem like he was making some small attempt. Once he left she finished her supper like he had suggested.

While she ate she tried to think of how she was going to manage her new life. She could amuse herself for likely the rest of the week with exploring the castle in further detail and exploring the surrounding forest. But there wasn't really much to do after that. Gala supposed that she could manage to pick up some solitary hobby, as there seemed to be unlimited supplies in the solar. Nearly the only thing she was really interested in was going back to the library and taking a closer look at what was there. That would likely take up a lot of time, but no matter how large the library was she would eventually go through it.

Things would have been better if there were a few people in the castle. Gala didn't enjoy all of the balls and different courtly expeditions that the rest of her family seemed to live for, and she knew that she wouldn't miss them. But she _was_ used to being around people. She spoke to all of the kingdom's advisors on a daily basis and spoke with the old ambassador on a fairly regular basis, she always had supper with her family so long as everyone was at the castle and wasn't visiting somewhere, and she was rather fond of a few of the servants, like Ulla and the head scribe and the chatelaine. Gala didn't enjoy giant gatherings but she was used to being around people. The only other person in the castle besides her was the bear.

As of yet, she didn't dislike him or really hold anything against him, but he didn't seem to encourage conversation or any form of companionship. He had sought her company this evening, but he hadn't exactly stayed long. He had apparently kept a good distance earlier considering that she hadn't come across him while she was exploring. The day before he had hardly spoken to her while he brought her here and had left her alone after dropping her off at her room.

After working her mind around and around, the only conclusion that Gala managed to come up with was that she could only hope that, as the only two occupants of the castle, they could become some sort of friends, though she didn't hold much hope for it.

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I do believe that this is my quickest update yet. Here Valemon makes a rather pathetic attempt at getting closer to Gala while she tries to work out how she is going to live in the castle for an undisclosed amount of time without going crazy. Them getting together is obviously going to take a while.

I appreciate any comments, especially if someone catches a mistake. As always, R&R please.


	15. We Meet Again

We Meet Again

Valemon prowled through his room, unable to sleep and unable to repress the knowledge that he had thoroughly messed up his initial attempt at wooing his own wife. Somehow, he remembered things being easier when he was a wet behind the ears seventeen year old. After all, he was a king, even if it was of a small kingdom, so plenty of women either were thrown at him or threw themselves. It was all for the sake of gaining a political connection or to achieve a higher social status, but he had always known that and the women had always known what was expected of them. They were supposed to do everything they could to entice him and he would eventually choose one. Once he did they would settle into a life of vague geniality and companionship at best and outright dislike at worst. More than likely they wouldn't have much to do with each other besides appearing together in public and trying to create an heir periodically.

Unfortunately this wasn't a regular circumstance. His wife was loosing more than she gained from this marriage and her consent was slightly questionable. And worse, he had started out imprinting the fact they wouldn't have much to do with each other into her mind and now had to completely switch directions.

Furthermore, Valemon was simply irritated that he had to have found a wife and that now he had to woo her. Every woman he had ever known fell into one of three places. Most women simply stayed in the roll that was expected of them and didn't deviate from it or put too much effort in anything else. Half of the women of the court fell into that group, including his mother. They did little things like embroider and read poetry and generally tried to embody the womanly virtues, to varying degrees of success. The women also ranged in intelligence, but generally didn't assert themselves and so were fairly forgettable. Second were the women who wanted attention and to differentiate themselves. They pushed or sometime even broke the boundaries of what was allowed in the most noticeable way possible. There usually wasn't a real reason for distinguishing themselves other than for attention and never accomplished anything besides gaining it. The third group pretty much comprised the rest of the women. Those were the ones who pretended to meekly or agreeably follow the roll they were born into, meanwhile they would try to maneuver things and people in order to gain more. Those were the sorts of women who spread rumors that caused others to fall in favor and who set up compromising situations so that they could gain a good marriage. They deceived everyone around them and you could never trust them at your back. A woman of that caliber was the very reason he was in that situation.

The only woman he could remember who didn't follow that formula was his godmother, and as she was a 'fey' he wasn't sure that she counted. Gwynach followed few, if any, of the rules of society, but it was more because she simply didn't care than anything else. While she often left things out, no one could say that she really deceived people as she usually made her intentions and opinions very clear, especially if someone would be shocked or insulted by them. She was likely the most useful woman he knew, and yet she never managed to really manage to help things much when she was really needed. Gwynach had explained that she couldn't have healed his father, but she could have been the voice of reason and told them to have called the village healer instead of the physician. She often interrupted to give advice, usually bordering on rude, and could have done so. She had intervened _after_ he was turned into a bear, but even then she hadn't provided much help. Valemon was truly grateful that he was only a bear during the daytime, but he had never had all that much hope that he could completely break the spell. He was still amazed that he had gotten into a situation where he could ask a lady to marry him and she not simply run off. And then, just when he thought that everything was going to work out, Gwynach tells him something to make it all complicated again.

Abruptly deciding that he was brooding too much, Valemon exited the room, carefully checking beneath the door to make sure that there was no light, and went down to the bathing room.

---

Gala slept in again the next morning. When she woke up she took a moment to simply enjoy having had plenty of sleep. She finally got up and headed down to kitchens and ate. From there she went on to the library.

She pulled out different book and manuscripts and leafed through them. There seemed to be a book on everything. There were several books of poems and bard's tales, plenty of historical texts, books on agriculture and politics and every other topic, and even an illustrated bible and several book of hours. Gala managed to keep herself amused for the entire day there.

It wasn't until her stomach rumbled loudly that she realized how much time she had spent there. She went back downstairs to have her supper, taking note as she passed a window that there was only about an hour until sunset. As she ate, Gala kept expecting for the bear to show up as he had the previous evening. Even though she had spent all day in the library it seemed odd that she would see the only other inhabitant of the castle once in two days. Despite her expectations she remained alone throughout her meal.

Still a bit nervous about meeting the bear, Gala went to the bathing chamber. She was surprised to find that the tub was already full of hot water when she got there. When she had seen the room before she had assumed that she would have to fill the tub herself, but apparently the room was like some of the others and fixed itself magically. Gala grabbed a cake of scented soap and a washcloth and placed them on the rim of the tub before stripping and getting in.

She indulged in a nice long soak, which she would have been ashamed of had she anything to do. As much as she loved being able to simply sit in warm water there was always a pressing matter that she needed to see to so she often didn't get the chance. Gala didn't get out until a good while later and made her way to her bedroom. She dried and brushed her hair before the fire and put it in a braid over her shoulder. The sun had set nearly two hours ago so she blew out her the candles and climbed under her covers.

Despite the fact that she usually nodded right off the second her head touched a pillow, Gala continued turn and twist an hour later. Eventually she decided it was because she had slept in the last two days and determined to get up at a decent time the next morning. Finally determining that she was simply too restless to get to sleep, Gala got up and decided to go get a book from the library. She lit a candle and put a robe on over her night shift.

She failed to notice the small bit of light that shone through the crack at the bottom of the door. It wasn't until she started opening the door that Gala realized that the torches in the room had been lit. She had only a moment or two to wonder about that, as she knew that she had extinguished them on her previous trip through, before a masculine shout stopped her. She heard shuffling and could see shadows play through the small gap where the door had already opened. After a moment she felt the door pulled open a bit by somebody on the other side.

"Close your eyes." Gala immediately recognized the bear's voice and did as he commanded. She felt the movement of air as the door was fully opened and herd him step closer. She jumped when she felt human hands take her by the shoulders. The bear, she thought and obviously in a human body, led her inside and pushed her down into a chair. He then took the candle from her hand and blew it out. "Keep them closed for a minute." She listened as he moved around the room and the light shining through her eyelids gradually lessened.

When the last of it was gone he said, "Alright, you can open your eyes if you wish." When she did Gala noted that it hardly made a difference as she couldn't see a single thing in the complete darkness. She amended that as her host moved forward, though all she could see was a vague shadow moving. "What are you doing up so late?"

It wasn't until that surly question that it occurred to Gala that the male that she had to live with was uniformly short with her and, as far as she could remember, always seemed to greet her by demanding an answer to something. "I was having trouble falling asleep and decided to go get a book from the library. I didn't think that we'd bump into each other." she finally replied defensively.

The bear simply grunted in reply and moved to the side, supposedly taking a seat though it was hard to tell in the darkness. Gala frowned, glad that he couldn't possibly see it. While she usually thought of him simply as 'the bear' in her mind, it didn't really seem right since he wasn't a bear at the moment. She thought back but couldn't remember him ever telling her something she could call him. He might've done so during the time they were together in the woods when she was sick, but her memories of then were fairly fuzzy.

After sitting in complete silence, along with complete darkness, for a minute Gala finally said, "I'm sorry, but it just occurred to me that I don't know your name. I'm sorry if you told me during our conversation in the woods, but I couldn't remember too much because of the fever."

The silence grew uncomfortable and Gala started to wonder if she hadn't been mistaken and he had left the room. Finally she heard movement to her right as her companion shifted.

"My name is Valemon."

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Well, not much to say. I'm trying to bring Valemon and Gala together without it being too easy. Valemon kinda has a thing against women, especially not trusting them, and Gala has some personal issues she's not even aware of that she needs to work out.

I hope to get the next chapter out sometime soon. If anybody has an opinion or idea about what should happen (I haven't really planned ahead) then please post it in a review. I especially appreciate having any mistakes pointed out. As always R&R please.


	16. Learning

Learning

Valemon couldn't help giving his bride a quick inspection before blowing out the last candle. While she had put a robe on, she had failed to tie the sash and close it. She hadn't even bothered to put on a pair slippers and her shift wasn't made to be the least bit alluring, hanging on her with no shape whatsoever. She would have looked sweet, and in one corner of his mind she did seem so, if it weren't for the fact that the shift was made of rather thin linen and was close to being sheer. He could only see the vague outlines of her legs and odd shadows, but it was enough to give him a good idea of how she'd look without it.

When the door had started to open he had panicked and had been more concerned with getting rid of the light and so hadn't really inspected her attire. After a final look he blew out the light and gave her leave to open her eyes. Once he was safe and he couldn't see her anymore, Valemon immediately became furious that everything had nearly been ruined only a few days after collecting his bride. But then, when his wife answered his question, he really couldn't get onto her for coming to get a book. Grudgingly, he decided that if he wanted to make sure that the terms of the spell were met he would have to spend his time either in his room or on the parapets after nightfall.

Disgruntled, he moved and took a seat. He was lost in his own thoughts, thinking over the close call and how to prevent it from happening again, when his bride interrupted and asked for his name. He quickly thought back, sure that he must have said his name at some point. But the more he thought, the more it became clear that he had somehow never got around to actually introducing himself. Realizing that he had been silent for a while he finally gave her his name.

Perhaps because of the curse, or because he spent so much time up and about after sundown since the curse was cast, his night vision was unusually good. By this time Valemon was able to vaguely see her, though he was sure that she was completely sightless. After the apologies in her question, he wanted to be clear that the fault was his, as she seemed to be very careful about showing good manners.

"With everything that has been happening, it seems that I never introduced myself." The fact that she hadn't even known his name reminded Valemon that they hardly knew anything about each other. The terms his godmother had given him dictated that his wife couldn't know much about him, but that didn't mean that the same had to be true on his end. All he knew was that she had some kind of duty at her family's palace and that was something her sister had said when he got her by mistake.

For all he knew she was betrothed to somebody before he took her away. Actually, considering that she was a princess, it was fairly likely that she had been betrothed. For some reason, once the thought entered the mind Valemon found that he was slightly bothered by it. As his godmother said, he had stopped using his manners years ago, so he decided to put it bluntly. "Tell me, before you came here were you betrothed?" She jumped but stayed silent for a few seconds. "I was simply wondering. I wouldn't be surprised if you had been. Most royalty, besides the crowned princes and princesses, are betrothed while still in the cradle."

"No," she finally answered, "I wasn't. My father never got around to betrothing me or my older sister. I'm not sure the idea ever entered his mind."

Curious about her, and with the fact that he had to get close enough to her so that he could eventually share her bed still clear in his mind, he decided that now was as good as any time to try and have a conversation with her. "Your oldest sister mentioned that you did something at your family's palace. I was wondering what it was that was so important that they had rather send out the crown princess than give you up. I could understand sending out you other sister, but giving up the crown princess seems too politically inexpedient."

Valemon could see his wife fidget in her chair and wondered what would discomfort her about the question. "Um… Ah, when I was younger I helped the Ambassador do his work. After his health declined I took it over completely. I tend to take care of everything like the trade agreements and writing laws."

Saying that Valemon was surprised was an understatement. Usually the only thing noble ladies had to do with anything political were political marriages. Their duties leaned more towards making sure the castle was comfortable and ran well and setting up social engagements. "What about your father, the king?" he asked.

"He was never interested in it. Even if he were, …honestly he just isn't very good at that sort of thing. The ambassador tried to teach him but Father never caught on." He watched her straighten up in her seat. "Of course, no one outside of the family and the advisors know about the situation. If it became common knowledge that a princess was dealing with the nation's politics then no one would trust the soundness of any of it."

There wasn't really much he could say about that as it was true. Nearly no one would trust the work done by a woman. But obviously she hadn't done a poor job of it. The country wasn't amazingly affluent but from what he had seen the country appeared to be prosperous for being a fairly small kingdom. In other small kingdoms Valemon had visited before being cursed the royalty and nobles could very well be less well off than many merchants or they would gain wealth by pinching it from all others who were then left to live in poverty. In his young wife's country neither was true. The royal family and nobles weren't as rich as some in larger countries, but there was a large distinction between them and the commoners. There were also the usual amount of poor and beggars but most of the commoners lived comfortably. She was obviously fairly competent.

Valemon was honestly surprised that his young wife was so well learned. Most princesses were taught how to sew and how to run a house properly, along with how to read, do basic figures, and how to speak different languages, but little else of value. In order to do that job properly she would have had to learn advance figures, politics, economics, and diplomacy. He had to learn all of those to a certain degree in preparation of becoming king, but he always had advisors to help him while she had obviously done it on her own. Most men who handled her responsibilities were established and at least in their thirties. Even ignoring the fact that she was a princess, Valemon's wife looked amazingly young to hold such a powerful position.

He though back for a moment, trying to remember if he knew her exact age. Eventually coming up with nothing, he asked, "How old are you exactly?"

"I'll be nineteen in a couple of months. And…ah… may I ask how old you are?"

Valemon was surprised at her question, answering automatically, "Twenty-seven." For a moment he regretted telling her but then shrugged it off. Most facts about himself he had to keep hidden. His bride couldn't know that he was a king, where he hailed from, or how he got cursed, or even specifically that he _was_ cursed, besides not knowing what he looked like naturally. But his age wasn't really an important fact and it did no harm for his wife to know that. With as little as she was allowed to know he didn't really begrudge answering the questions he could.

"And what else did you do in your father's palace?" he asked, now curious.

"Not much really." she said, shrugging in the darkness. "Of course, I attend all of the balls and such that I am expected to be at as a princess. I can usually beg my way out of a hunt, and my embroidery is rather sorry so I'm never invited to join other ladies at that, and I don't leave to attend anything in the neiboring countries, but otherwise I do the usual things that any other princess does. My mother wouldn't accept anything else."

"And what of your family?"

"You have met my sisters. Freya, the one you first took, is almost just like our father. She loves balls and hunts, and having company. The younger noblemen and the less subdued young noble ladies are drawn to her. Gefion, my oldest sister, took our mother's teachings more seriously. She's acted as hostess at the castle several times for Mother. Even the matrons ask for her advice about household things. The older gentlemen and knights appreciate her efforts and the young ladies who want to become proper chatelaines look up to her.

Father is the same as he was before he became king. He leads the court in all of its pursuits and is considered the most affable king around. He's also very lenient and hard to insult, which is why the court is always so full, and why so many foreign dignitaries are always present. Mother's always been a perfect queen. She taught Gefion everything she knows. She even manages to keep control of the court and makes sure that no one is out of line."

When she fell silent Valemon asked, "And do you have any other family? Uncles, aunts, cousins?"

"No." Gala replied with a yawn, "My father had five older brothers but they all died before I was born. Two of them were married but never had children. Out of my two aunts, one remarried and the other returned to her family, so I have seen little of either. My mother was an only child. Her father is the only living grandparent I have left. I have plenty of more removed relatives in my father's kingdom and in a few others, but none I have much to do with." She gave another great yawn, making Valemon distinctly aware of how late it was.

He stood up and came to her seat. "Here," he said, taking her hands and helping her up, "allow me to escort you. Would you still like to go to the library or would you rather retire?"

"I think I'd rather just get back in bed."

Valemon grabbed the candle she had brought on their way out and then escorted his bride through the dark hallway. Gala clung to him, depending on him to lead her while she couldn't see. Even though he understood the reason for that, her clinging to his arm made him vaguely uncomfortable.

Luckily they soon reached the door to his wife's chambers. He opened the door with his free hand and then took her hand and placed the candleholder in it. With a hand at her elbow he set her into the doorway and turned her so that they were facing.

"I'll leave you to your sleep now. If you require anything just nock on my door. Pleasant dreams." Valemon turned and walked back through the halls until he got back to his own room, thinking back through everything he had learned about his young wife.

---

Gala closed her chamber door and slipped between her bed sheets. She was still thrown that she had even met her husband in a human body. There wasn't much that she had been able to tell in the dark, other than that he was _much_ larger than herself. From what she had seen of his shadow and where his voice was coming from, he was at least a foot taller than she was. Even his hands seemed like they could swallow her own. Unfortunately, she knew nothing else besides his basic size and shape. She couldn't help but wonder what he really looked like.

It didn't take long before she reviewed everything that was said. Gala gave a few winces over how much information about herself that she had given without learning anything in return. Once she had started answering questions it had seemed natural to continue giving her husband any information he asked for. It just seemed unfair that he knew so much about herself, while she only knew his name and that he was a bear by day and a man at night.

Still, besides being rather abrupt and demanding in his questions, he had shown fairly good manners. He didn't have to escort her to her room, and his parting had been perfectly chivalric. Gala would appreciate it more if he would remember his manners before their parting.

Gala's exhaustion caught up to her so she rolled over sank into sleep.

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Sorry about the month long wait. Between getting ready for visiting relative and trying to find a job for the school year I haven't had much time this month. Though my updating habits are horrible whether I have an excuse or not. I'm trying to have the two of them fall in love logically (as logical as it can get anyway) so it will probably take a while. So far Valemon is getting interested in Gala as a person, and she is just getting out of having nothing in her life but work. Any suggestions about how to proceed would be appreciated, along with grammar and spelling corrections. As always, R&R please.


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